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Page 281 


“Off to the left sounded a cry” 



JACK RANGER’S 
OCEAN CRUISE 

Or 

The Wreck of the Polly Ann 


BY 


CLARENCE YOUNG 


i) 


AUTHOR OF “JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS,” “JACK RANGER'S 
WESTERN TRIP,” “JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES,” 
“THE MOTOR BOYS,” “THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND,” 

ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW YORK 

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 




BOOKS BY CLARENCE YOUNG 


U ; »■/ 

THE JACK RANGER SERIES ^ k'j 


i2mo. Finely Illustrated 

« 



JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS V '’i 

Or The Rivals of Washington Hall 
JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP 

Or From Boarding School to Ranch and Rango 
JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES 
Or Track, Gridiron and Diamond 
JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 
Or The Wreck of the Polly Ann 
JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB 

Or From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail 

THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES 


(Trade Mark, Beg. U. S. Pat. Of.) 

i2mo. Illustrated 


THE MOTOR BOYS 

Or Chums Through Thick and Thin 
THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND 

Or A Long Trip for Fun and Fortune 
THE MOTOR BOYS IN MEXICO 
Or The Secret of the Buried City 
THE MOTOR BOYS ACROSS THE PLAINS 
Or The Hermit of Lost Lake 
THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT 

Or The Stirring Cruise of the Dartaway 
THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC 
Or The Mystery of the Lighthouse 
THE MOTOR BOYS TN STRANGE WATERS 
Or Lost in a Floatirig Forest 
THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE PACIFIC 
Or The Young Derelict Hunters 
THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS 
Or A Trip for Fame and Fortune 


Copyright, 1909, by 
CuppLEs & Leon Company 


Jack Ranger’s Ocean Cruise 

Printed in U. S. A- 

V % n 3 U 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Wash-Boiler Serenade .... i 

II. The Quarrel 12 

III. Fun With “Fathead” Farson .... 20 

IV. Sam and Bony Arrive 31 

V. Planning a Camp 37 

VI. An Unlucky Strike 50 

VII. Mr. Ranger’s Story 59 

VIII. Chowden and Lavine Plot 66 

IX. Off to Camp 72 

X. An Unexpected Encounter 85 

XI. Jerry Surprises Lavine 96 

XII. A Strange Discovery 105 

XIII. An Underground Printing Plant . . 112 

XIV. Fathead's Queer Pies 117 

XV. The Boys Investigate 126 

XVI. Captured 134 

XVII. The Plotters Plan 145 

XVIII. Alarm in Camp 150 

XIX. Aboard the Polly Ann 158 

XX. Out to Sea . . . . . . , . 7 , , " . . . 165 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXL Breaking Camp i 77 

XXII. Jerry Chowden Aboard 184 

XXIII. Captain Reeger’s Oddities 193 

XXIV. A Signal of Distress 200 

XXV. “Man Overboard” 213 

XXVI. Mysterious Happenings 220 

XXVII. In a Bad Storm 231 

XXVIII. Jack Saves the Captain 239 

XXIX. Captain Reeger’s Confession .... 249 

XXX. Jerry Threatens 256 

XXXI. The Polly Ann Wrecked 264 

XXXII. Adrift at Sea 274 

XXXIII. The Rescue 283 

XXXIV. Chowden Comes to Grief 293 

XXXV. The Rascals Caught —Conclusion . . 299 


JACK RANGER’S OCEAN 
CRUISE 


CHAPTER I 

THE WASH-BOILER SERENADE 

“ Come on, Nat; aren’t you going down to the 
depot to meet Sam and Bony? ” 

“ Depot? Of course. Gasolene gondolas! but 
you don’t want to go down so soon; do you? 
Why, it’s an hour till train time. Unless there’s 
something up ? ” finished Nat Anderson, looking 
with a critical eye at his chum. Jack Ranger. 

Eh, Jack? Something doing? Go on, now; 
don’t raise my youthful hopes on high, only to 
dash them to earth again.” 

“ Say, you’re getting poetical all of a sudden, 
Nat.” 

“ Poetical? So would you If you felt as I do. 
Think of It I Two months with nothing to do but 
have fun 1 ” 

“ Then you’re not going to do any studying this 
vacation, and work off your conditions? ” 

“ Caesar’s cyclometer, no I Pm going to have 


I 


2 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

all the fun I can before we go back to Washington 
Hall. But say, what’s up ? There must be some- 
thing, or you wouldn’t come for me to go to the 
station an hour before train time.” 

“ Well, I don’t mind admitting that I have a 
little plan in mind,” remarked Jack slowly, looking, 
meanwhile, as solemn as a judge. 

“Why didn’t you come sooner, then?” asked 
Nat reproachfully. “ Tantalizing terrapins I If 
you’re getting up some scheme we’ll want all the 
time possible to work it out.” 

“ Say, Nat,” spoke Jack, “ if you’ve any more 
of those in your system, you’d better get them out 
before we start.” 

“ Any more what? ” 

“ Why, such expressions as ‘ rollicking bean 
poles ’ or ‘ slab-sided sauer-kraut.’ I don’t want 
to take you down to the station with them in you.” 

“ Why not?” 

“ They might fall on the track, and derail the 
train.” 

“ I guess I’m done,” said Nat meekly, for some- 
times his odd expressions slipped out before he 
knew it. “ I say, though, do you care if I use that 
one, once in awhile ? ” 

“ Which one? ” 

“ * Slab-sided sauer-kraut.’ It’s a dandy.” 


THE WASH-BOILER SERENADE 


3 


“ Nq, you can have it. I haven’t a patent on it. 
But come on, if you’re going.” 

“ Of course I’m going, but you haven’t told 
me what the game is yet.” 

“ I’ll tell you. We’re going to receive Sam and 
Bony in proper style. I’ve told Pete Ruggles and 
Aleck Dawes, and they’ll help out.” 

“ Help out what? ” 

“ Why, the wash-boiler serenade, of course.” 

“ Say, you’re as bad as I am. What’s a wash- 
boiler serenade? ‘Tinkling tin-pots.’ You’re as 
mysterious as MarineUo Booghoobally, alias 
Hemp Smith, used to be.” 

“ He only pretended to be mysterious. There’s 
no mystery about what I’m going to do. You 
know Sam Chalmers and Bony Balmore are com- 
ing to pay me a visit.” 

“ Sure. I knew that last week, when you told 
me they had accepted your invite. But what about 
the serenade ? ” 

“ I’m coming to that.” 

“ So’s Fourth of July — next year. Get a little 
more gasolene on. Throw in the«high-speed gear, 
and advance your spark a bit.” 

“ Well, there isn’t much to it. You know Doo- 
ley’s five and ten cent store? ” 

“ I should say so, where you can buy anything 


4 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

from a pair of glasses to a cake of soap for ten 
cents.” 

“ That’s the place. Well, they’re having a 
special sale of tin wash boilers to-day. Everybody 
in town is buying one, to judge by the way people 
are going through the streets carrying them. I 
got the idea from seeing them. We’ll each go 
buy one, take ’em down to the depot, and, when 
Sam and Bony come in, we’ll serenade ’em.” 

“That’s the stuff! I’m with you. We’ll give 
’em the rogues’ march from Tannhauser.” 

“ There’s no rogues’ march in that.” 

“ Oh, well, they’ll never know the difference. 
Where are Pete and Aleck going to meet you? ” 

“ In front of the store. Dooley sells only one 
boiler to a customer, so we each have to go there 
and buy one. There’s a big crowd in front of the 
place, but I guess we can get in. The boilers are 
a big bargain, and Dooley is selling them for ten 
cents only to draw trade. Now come on, be- 
fore they’re all sold out.” 

The two lads started from Nat’s house, where 
Jack had stopped to call for his chum, and has- 
tened down the main business street of the little 
town of Denton. 

“ There’s Pete! ” exclaimed Jack, as they came 
in sight of quite a throng of people in front of 


THE WASH-BOILER SERENADE 


5 


the store, where a great variety of articles could 
be purchased for a dime, or half that sum. 

“ Yes, and Aleck ’s with him,’* added Nat. 

Limping lollypops I but there’s quite a gang 
there. We’ll never get in. Jack.” 

“ You just follow your uncle,” advised Jack. 
“ We’ll get in all right.” 

“ If we do we’ll never get out,” went on Nat, 
as he drew closer and observed what a crush 
there was of persons anxious to get a twenty-five- 
cent boiler for ten cents. 

“ Getting out will be the easiest part of it,” 
replied Jack. “ Come on.” 

“ Thought you fellers were never coming,” 
grumbled Pete, as he greeted Nat and Jack. 

“ It was Nat’s fault,” replied Jack. “ He had 
to stop and argue the thing.” 

“ I did not! You took all day telling what was 
up,” retorted Nat. 

“ Well, stop arguing and come on in,” sug- 
gested Aleck. “ Say, but there’s quite a push. 
Jack.” 

“ Yes, and we’ll have to push to get in. Here, 
each of you take a dime, and then you won’t 
have to wait for change. Now come on. Follow 
me.” 

“ Yes, fellow soldiers, doomed to die in the 


6 


JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


cause of fun, follow our noble leader! ” declaimed 
Nat in a low, hoarse whisper, which set Aleck to 
giggling, a habit that he was prone to, and which, 
once started, was hard to stop. 

“ Now you’ve got him going! ” exclaimed Pete 
reproachfully. “ He’ll not be able to stand up 
pretty soon.” 

In fact, Aleck was now doubled up in silent 
mirth. It did not take much to start him, and 
still less to keep him going. 

“ Oh! oh! ” he gasped. “ I can’t stop ! ” 

“ Quit that and come on in,” urged Pete. 
“ They’ll all be gone.” 

“I — ca-can’t!” stammered Aleck, getting 
his breath, and starting off on another spasm. 
“ Nat’s voice sounded so funny, and when I think 
of what we’re going to do — ” 

“ I’ll give you something else to think of,” ex- 
claimed Jack. “ What you need is a counter-ir- 
ritant,” and he pinched Aleck vigorously on his 
leg. 

“ Ow ! Ouch ! Wow ! ” exclaimed the pinched 
one. 

“ That’s right ! Change your tune. Put a new 
record in,” suggested Nat, and this nearly set Aleck 
off in another giggling fit. Only for the fact that 
a policeman, sent to keep the crowd in order. 


THE WASH-BOILER SERENADE 


7 


moved around to see what the disturbance was in 
the neighborhood of where the boys stood, he 
might have had a worse hysterical fit of laughing. 
But he did not want Jack’s plans spoiled, and 
managed to gain control of himself, so that the 
officer had nothing with which to find fault. 

A few seconds later, after much pushing and 
shoving, the boys found themselves inside the store. 
It was quite a task to get to the counter where 
a corps of clerks were handing out the wash boil- 
ers, and each of the four lads finally managed to 
get one of the big tin affairs, though, during the 
operation a fat woman stuck her elbow into Aleck’s 
ribs, and set him to giggling again. He was only 
stopped when Nat suddenly put his wash boiler 
over the afflicted youth’s head. 

“ Say, that’s a good idea 1 ” exclaimed Jack. 
“ Use ’em for helmets. We can get out easier 
then. I was going down through the cellar and 
out that way, but this is better. ‘ ’Tention, com- 
pany.’ Put on — wash boilers! ” 

At the command of their leader the other two 
lads raised the tin things above their heads and 
lowered them down, completely hiding their faces 
from view. 

There was a laugh in the crowd about them, 
and one of the managers of the store came up. 


8 


JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Here, you boys will have to leave at once,*' 
he said. 

“ We’re not trees, but we’ll leave,” replied Jack. 

“Forward — march!” exclaimed Nat, in hol- 
low tones from beneath his helmet of bright tin. 

A peculiar wiggling and shaking motion of 
Aleck’s boiler indicated that the youth under it was 
beginning another spasm of laughing. The boiler 
was rattling away, as it vibrated back and forth 
on the buttons of his coat. The crowd about the 
counter began to laugh loudly. 

“ Come, now, get out of here,” ordered the man- 
ager. 

“ We’re going,” replied Jack, and he began to 
move forward. The boiler acted like a snow plow, 
and, though Jack could only guess where he was 
going, so effective was the tin buffer, that a lane 
was opened for him through the crowd, and he 
marched out of the store, followed by his three 
chums. The people made way for them, as soon 
as they felt the touch of the boilers against them, 
and the lads were soon on the sidewalk. 

“Unmask! ” cried Jack, and they lifted off the 
boilers. 

“ Whew ! It was hot under there ! ” exclaimed 
Nat. “ Now what. Jack.” 

“ Parade — rest,” ordered the commander. 


THE WASH-BOILER SERENADE 


9 


“ WeVe got plenty of time yet, and I want to get 
some drumsticks.’* 

The boys turned down a side street, where there 
were few persons, and sat down on the wash boil- 
ers, which made very good seats. 

“ What time is the train due? ” asked Aleck. 

“ Three thirty-seven, but it’s only ten minutes 
past. We’ll go down to the big willow tree and 
cut some sticks. Then we’ll go to the depot.” 

The lads, after a brief rest, followed Jack down 
to the banks of a little brook, where grew a big 
willow tree, that served for the manufacture of 
innumerable whistles in the spring. Each youth 
cut two drumsticks and then, as train time was 
approaching, they wended their way to the Denton 
station. 

“ Let’s practice a bit,” suggested Nat, just be- 
fore reaching the depot. “ Start her up. Jack.” 

Thereupon Jack, producing some strong cord, 
proceeded to tie his boiler about his neck, where 
it looked like an oddly shaped base drum. 
Then he beat a lusty tattoo, which was joined in 
by the other lads, who suspended their boilers as 
they completed their march to the station. 

“Good land! I thought it was one of them 
Indian medicine shows cornin’ along! ” exclaimed 
the station agent. “ What in the name of Gilli- 


lo JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

gan’s roundhouse are you boys up to now, Jack 
Ranger? ” 

“This? Why, this is the first division of the 
Denton Town Band,” replied Jack. “ The other 
sections will be along later. Parade — rest ! 
Stack boilers ! ” he commanded, and his little com- 
pany came to a halt. 

“What time is the three thirty-seven due?” 
asked Nat innocently. 

“ It’s due at — why, you know what time it’s 
due at,” replied the agent, just saving himself 
from answering Nat’s obvious question. 

“ What time’ll it get here? ” inquired Pete. 

“ It’s half an hour late,” was the answer. 
“ There’s a freight wreck up the line. Why, ex- 
pectin’ company? ” 

“ Some friends,” replied Jack. 

“Heaven help your friends!” exclaimed the 
agent to himself, as he went Into his office, and 
closed the door. “ Them boys Is up to some mis- 
chief, I’ll wager a pad of telegraph blanks,” he 
went on. “ There’s always something doing when 
Jack Ranger’s around. Well, he don’t mean any 
harm, I suppose, but just the same I’ll stay Inside.” 

As for Jack and his friends, they selected a shady 
spot to rest, for It was a hot July day, and warmer 
down at the depot than any other place In town. 


THE WASH-BOILER SERENADE ii 


“ WeVe got quite a wait,” remarked Jack. “ I 
guess weVe got time enough to go get a — ” 

But he did not finish the sentence. Instead he 
arose from his seat on the overturned wash boiler, 
and stood looking at two youths who were slowly 
walking down the depot platform. 

“What’s up?” asked Nat languidly, as he 
turned to see why Jack had ceased speaking. 
Then he, too, arose, and stood staring at the new- 
comers. 

“ There’s Jerry Chow den ! ” exclaimed Jack in 
a low voice. 

“ Yes, and that sneak Tom Adams is with him,” 
added Nat. “ Now look out for squalls. I won- 
der what they’re doing here? ” 

At that moment Jerry Chowden, the former 
bully of Washington Hall, and Jack Ranger’s en- 
emy, approached. He had seen the four lads, and 
an angry look came over hi^ face. 


CHAPTER II 


THE QUARREL 

Approaching quite close to Jack, the former 
bully of the school stood looking our hero over, 
with a sneering smile on his unpleasant face. On 
his part Jack calmly regarded his old enemy. 

“ So this is where he hangs out; is it? ” asked 
Tom Adams of his crony. 

“Yes, he bums around the depot most of the 
time, I suppose,” went on Jerry. “ This is the 
first good chance I’ve had to get even with him, 
for having me expelled, and I guess I’ve got time 
to take it out of him before our train comes along; 
eh, Tom? ” 

“ Sure. Go ahead and lick him. I’ll be on 
hand if you want any help.” 

“ Are you speaking to me, or about me? ” asked 
Jack in cool tones, as he stepped a few paces for- 
ward and confronted Jerry. “ If you’re speaking 
to me I wish you to understand that I don’t care 
to have anything to do with you.” 

“ Oh, my! We’re getting very particular all of 
a sudden,” put in Tom, with an affected laugh. 

12 


THE QUARREL 


13 


Jack never turned his head to look at the speaker. 

“If you are speaking about me/* went on Jack 
Ranger, “ I wish you to understand that I don’t 
take such sort of talk from any one, least of all, 
you, Chowden. You’ll apologize or take the con- 
sequences 1 ” 

“Apvylogize? What for?’* asked the bully, 
for, though he was larger and stronger than Jack, 
he knew he could not get the best of our hero in a 
fair fight. 

“ Apologize for saying that I ‘ bum * around the 
depot.” 

“ Apologize nothing! ** muttered Chowden. 

“ That’s right 1 Punch his face if he bothers 
you,” added Tom. 

“ I guess two can play at that game,” put in 
Nat Anderson cheerfully. “ Here, Aleck, you and 
Pete mind the boilers. Maybe there’ll be some- 
thing doing here pretty soon,” for Aleck and Pete 
were rather small lads, and Nat did not want to 
get them in trouble with the bully and his crony. 

“ What you buttin’ in for? ” growled Jerry, 
turning to Nat. “ I ain’t said anything to you, 
but if you’re looking for trouble you can have all 
you want.” 

“ That’s right,” murmured Tom. “ I’ll take 
him on with pleasure/ 


JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“Are you going to apologize?” asked Jack 
sharply. 

“ Not so’s you could notice it,” sneered Jerry. 
“ I owe you a good threshing for having me ex- 
pelled, and I’m going to give it to you,” and he 
began to take off his coat. 

Though it was some time since Jack had been 
instrumental in Jerry’s dismissal from Washington 
Hall, the bully had not forgotten it, though, ac- 
tually, it was Sam Chalmers who gave the evidence 
that really convicted Chowden, as told in the first 
volume of this series, “ Jack Ranger’s School- 
days.” 

Nor was this the only affair between Jack and 
Jerry, for, as told in the third volume of the 
series, “ Jack Ranger’s School Victories,” the bully 
had sought to have Jack dismissed by alleging that 
our hero had copied a certain essay, but through 
the aid of friends Jack had been able to show that 
it was a dastardly trick on Chowden’s part. 

Now Jack was not at all averse to an encounter 
with the bully. In fact, he rather welcomed it, 
for, though not fond of fighting. Jack “ could 
keep his end up,” as the boys said. And that 
there was going to be a fight was evident from: 
Jerry’s actions. 

Tom Adams seemed anxious to take a hand in it 


THE QUARREL 


15 


also, for he began unbuttoning his coat, and ap- 
proached Nat. Jack did not want a wholesale 
melee, in such a public place as the depot, but 
there seemed to be no way out of it. He certainly 
was not going to run away. 

“I’m going to give you the best licking you 
ever had,” muttered Jerry, as he walked closer, 
doubling up his fists, and assuming a pugilistic 
attitude. “ I have just time for it before my train 
comes.” 

So sudden had been the appearance of the bully 
and his crony, that Jack had no time to speculate 
on what brought him to Denton. 

“I’m not anxious to fight,” said Jack quietly; 
“ but I guess I can give you what you are looking 
for, Chowden.” 

“ And the same here, with my compliments, 
Tom Adams,” added Nat. “ Come one, come all, 
this depot shall fly from its firm base as soon as 
I,” he recited majestically. 

“ That’s what you think now, but you’ll soon 
sing on the other side of your mouth,” sneered 
Tom. “ Come on, Jerry. Let’s polish ’em off 
good.” 

Both the lads were bullies and cowards, but they 
were tall and strong, and, at first sight, more than 
a match for Jack and his chum. Seeing that there 


i6 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


was likely to be a fight, Pete and Aleck, carrying 
the wash boilers, moved out of the zone of hostil- 
ities. 

“ They’re running away! ” exclaimed Jerry with 
a laugh, as he noticed what the other boys were 
doing. “ We’ll give them a drubbing next.” 

“ Better finish us first,” remarked Jack coolly, 
as he took off his coat, an example followed by 
Nat. There was no one about the depot at this 
hour, and the station agent had gone down to the 
freight house to see about some goods, so there 
was no likelihood of interference. 

‘‘ Come back here, you cowards I ” called Tom 
tauntingly to Pete and Aleck. 

But the younger boys had no notion of running 
away. They made a circle, and came up behind 
the two bullies, who were now quite close to Tom 
and Jack. 

“So you thought I’d apologize, did you?” 
asked Jerry in sneering tones of Jack. 

“ I think you ought to, and I think you will 
before I get through with you.” 

“ Yes, and I’ll make this sneak, Anderson, wish 
he’d never seen me,” added Tom. 

The four belligerents w^ere now quite close to 
each other. Fists were doubled, arms and legs 
were tense, and breaths came rather faster than 


THE QUARREL 


17 


normally, at the beginning of the fistic battle. 
As usual, each lad waited for a good opening, or 
for a beginning of hostilities on the part of his 
opponent, that he might know how best to conduct 
his attack or defense. 

Jack, looking into Jerry’s eyes, saw a sudden 
shift that betokened that the bully was about to 
strike. Then, glancing for a brief instant beyond 
his enemy. Jack saw something else. So did Nat. 

This was nothing else than the sight of Pete and 
Aleck softly approaching the enemy from the rear, 
each of the smaller lads holding out his wash 
boiler before him. Their purpose was evident. 
They accomplished it a moment later. 

With a sudden motion Jack lowered his head, 
as if he was going to butt Jerry like an angry goat. 
At the same moment he extended his arms before 
him, and quickly pushed the bully from him. Nat 
Anderson, who understood like a flash what was 
up, did the same thing. 

The effect was most unexpected. Vainly paw- 
ing the air to retain their balances, the two mean 
lads went over backward, struggling to retain their 
footing. Over they went, and then they fell, 
doubled up, into the yawning mouths of the wash 
boilers, which were waiting to receive them, hav- 
ing been placed in position by Aleck and Pete. 


i8 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Ow ! ” yelled Jerry, the exclamation coming 
from him involuntarily, he was so surprised. 

“ Wh — wh — what’s happened ? ” demanded 
Tom in bewilderment, as he found himself held 
fast in the grip of the boiler. He tried to rise but 
he could not, for the elastic sides of the tin recep- 
tacle held him fast. 

“I — I can’t get up I ” cried Jerry, who was in 
a similar plight. 

“Hal Hal Ho! Ho! He! He!” laughed 
Aleck, and he began to giggle. “ Oh, dear ! 
Somebody hold me ! ” he cried, doubling up with 
mirth. 

Then came the shrill whistle of a train. Jerry 
and his crony struggled harder than ever to ex- 
tricate themselves. But they were in fast, and 
wherever they went, like the lamb that followed 
Mary to school, the boilers went also. Finally 
the two bullies had to squat down on their knees, 
and, doubling up as much as possible, so as to make 
their bodies smaller, they were able to slip out of 
their tin shells. They arose, dusty, red-faced and 
angry. 

“ You — you — you — ” sputtered Jerry, rush- 
ing at Jack, and shaking his fist. 

“Here’s our train, Jerry!” called Tom. 
“ Come on. We’ll fix him the next time ! ” 


THE QUARREL 


19 


“ Yes, catch your train,” cried Jack, between 
spells of laughter. “You can apologize another 
time.” 

“You might take one of the boilers along for 
a souvenir of your visit to Denton,” suggested 
Nat, joining in the mirth, while Pete and Aleck 
had to hold each other up, they were laughing so 
hard. 

The train rolled into the depot, and the two bul- 
lies made a rush for it. As he climbed the steps 
of one of the cars, Jerry looked back to shake 
his fist at Jack. 

“ That was better than giving them a good wal- 
loping,” observed Jack, as he wiped the tears of 
laughter from his eyes. 

“Hannibal’s griddle-cakes! I guess it was,” 
agreed Nat. “ Oh ! But they were a sight ; stuck 
in those boilers! Pete — Aleck, you deserve a 
gold medal for thinking of it.” 

“ Pete did,” spoke Aleck. “ I got to giggling 
so I couldn’t hardly do anything.” 

“ And the boilers aren’t hurt a bit,” observed 
Jack calmly, as he examined them. “ They’ll do 
for the serenade yet.” 


CHAPTER III 


FUN WITH “ FATHEAD ” FARSON 

Jack gazed meditatively at the train which was 
bearing Jerry Chowden and Tom Adams out of 
sight. 

“I wonder what they were doing here?” he 
said, speaking aloud as was his habit, sometimes, 
when thinking deeply. 

“ Maybe Davidson could tell us,” suggested 
Nat. 

“ Who; the station agent? ” 

“ Sure. They must have changed cars here and 
they’re just the kind to talk to everyone they meet 
about what they’re going to do. Chowden never 
could keep anything to himself.” 

“ We’ll ask Davidson,” decided Jack. “ Here 
he comes now.” 

The agent was returning from the freight house, 
and he stopped as he saw that the boys wanted to 
speak to him. He had seen nothing of the row. 

“ Yes, I know the two young fellers you mean,” 
the agent said, in reply to Jack’s questk>n. “ Why, 
20 


FUN WITH “FATHEAD” FARSON 


21 


they got off the Lakeside Express because that 
didn’t stop at Haddonville, where they wanted to 
go, and they had to wait for the local. I heard 
’em talkin’ about it, an’ sayin’ what a poor road 
this was to travel on. I guess it’s not so bad.” 

“ It’s a good road,” declared Jack, and then, 
as the agent went back into his office our hero 
remarked to his chums: 

“ I think I understand it. Tom Adams has an 
uncle living in Haddonville. I heard some of the 
fellows at the Academy say he and Chowden were 
going to spend part of the summer there. They 
thought they could travel there in style, but they 
had to get off here to take a local train. That’s 
how they happened to see us.” 

“ Very likely we haven’t seen the last of ’em 
then,” said Nat. “ Haddonville’s only fifteen 
miles from here, and they may drop in on us 
again.” 

“ We’ll be ready for ’em,” put in Pete. “ These 
wash boilers will come in handy again.” 

“ I wish the train with Sam and Bony would 
come in,” murmured Jack. “ It’s most time for 
it.” 

While the boys are waiting for the arrival of 
Jack’s school chums, there will, perhaps, be no 
better time than the present to tell something about 


22 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


the principal character of this book, and sketch 
something of his friends. 

Jack Ranger was a wide-awake American lad, 
one of the best of his kind, who was fonder of 
a joke and a good time than he was of eating. 
He lived with his father, Robert Ranger, and 
three maiden aunts in the town of Denton. 

The aunts, Angelina, Josephine and Mary Steb- 
bins, had taken care of Jack for several years, 
when he was a small boy, when there was some 
mystery connected with his life. This mystery 
concerned his father. 

In the first volume of this series, called “ Jack 
Ranger’s Schooldays,” there was related the ac- 
tivities of Jack, and his special chum, Nat, in 
Denton. Their doings were so lively that the 
boys were sent to a boarding school, at the head 
of which was Dr. Henry Mead. The school was 
called Washington Hall, or, sometimes, Lakeside 
Academy, from the fact that it was on Rudmore 
Lake. There Jack made a host of friends, and 
some enemies, including the bully Chowden, his 
crony Tom Adams, and others in that set. Among 
Jack’s particular chums were Sam Chalmers, one 
of the baseball players at the Academy; Dick 
Balmore, called “ Bony ” from the fact that he 


FUN WITH ‘‘ FATHEAD ” FARSON 


23 


was quite thin, and John Smith, a half-breed In- 
dian student. 

The latter, and his father, it appeared later, 
were concerned in the mystery surrounding Jack’s 
father. Mr. Ranger, as Jack learned in a peculiar 
way, had been obliged to go into hiding in the 
west, in connection with a land deal, in which was 
concerned a man named Orion Tevis. The clue 
to Mr. Ranger’s whereabouts was held by Mr. 
Tevis, and the key to it was a certain odd ring, 
which was owned by Jack’s aunts, and which was 
stolen from the Denton jewelry store, where it 
was sent to be repaired. John Smith, the Indian 
student, had a similar ring, and, after some stirring 
times at the school, Jack and John decided they 
would go west in search of Mr. Ranger. Mr. 
Smith had, just before his death, given his half- 
breed son the ring. 

How they went, and what happened to them 
there was told in the second volume, entitled “ Jack 
Ranger’s Western Trip.” In that was related 
how Jack, with John Smith and Nat Anderson, 
went to a ranch owned by an uncle of Nat, and 
what exciting times they had getting there. 

A certain faker, whose real name was Hemp 
Smith, but who assumed the title Marinello 


24 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

Booghoobally, and who pretended to be an East 
Indian mystic, was responsible for part of their 
trouble. He stole from Jack a certain card, which 
was needed to locate Mr. Tevis, but Jack cleverly 
got it back. Then in the wilds of the West the 
three lads had many more experiences, some 
fraught with danger. But they located Mr. Ran- 
ger at last and succeeded, after some hardships, 
in getting him back east to Denton. There was 
no longer a necessity for Mr. Ranger to remain 
in hiding, he having gone into voluntary exile to 
prevent the serving on him of certain legal papers, 
which would have proved disastrous for a friend. 

In the third volume, called “ Jack Ranger’s 
School Victories,” was related what befell Jack 
at certain track, gridiron and diamond contests. 

Jack was an athlete of no small abilities, and 
he succeeded in keeping the name of Washington 
Hall well to the fore in the sports and games in 
which he took part. 

But it was not all easy sailing. His enemies 
felt vindictive toward him, and they succeeded in 
creating considerable trouble. Not the least of 
these enemies was the same Hemp Smith whom 
Jack had once unmasked when he was to give a 
lecture on theosophy in Denton, before a society 
of which our hero’s aunts were members. Hemp 


FUN WITH “ FATHEAD ’’ FARSON 25 


Smith, alias Marinello Booghoobally, did his best 
to annoy and injure Jack, but the plucky lad proved 
too much for the rascal. 

Jack took part in several stirring events at the 
Academy. He made more friends than ever, and 
not a few enemies, and the anger which was felt 
by Jerry Chow den and his cronies was in no wise 
diminished. 

When this story opens. Jack and his chum, Nat 
Anderson, had only been home from boarding 
school a few days, at the close of the spring term. 
The long summer vacation was before them, and 
to better enjoy part of it Jack had invited Sam 
Chalmers and Bony Balmore to spend a month or 
six weeks with him. The boys anticipated some 
stirring times, but they did not bargain for the 
strange adventures which befell them. 

“ My, but that train must be later than the 
agent said it was,’* remarked Nat at length" 
“ Let’s ask if the wreck is cleared away yet.” 

“ Yes, if we stay here much longer it’ll be din- 
ner time. I’m getting hungry now,” observed 
Pete Ruggles. 

“ Yes, there’ll be another half hour delay,” re- 
plied the agent, when Jack had asked the question., 
“ They couldn’t get the wreck cleared away as 
quick as they thought they could.” 


26 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Well, we’ll have to wait, that’s aU,” said Jack 
to his chums. “ It’ll never do to have our serenade 
go to waste after all the trouble I went to.” 

“ Certainly not,” agreed Nat. “ Far be it from 
me, brave comrade, to suggest such a thing. If 
yon base-born slave hungers for the flesh-pots of 
Egypt—” 

“ I’d just as leave have a ham sandwich or an 
ice cream soda, as all the flesh-pots of Egypt, 
Europe, Africa and Australia, Nat,” said Pete. 
“ I’m just plain hungry.” 

“ Here comes Fathead Farson,” said Jack sud- 
denly. “ Let’s have some fun with him, and that 
will make the time pass quicker.” 

Archibald Farson, sometimes called that name 
when the boys wanted to provoke him, more com- 
monly known as Archie, and more commonly still 
as “ Fathead ” because he looked it, was a jelly- 
faced, indolent, wall-eyed lad of the town, who was 
something of a common nuisance, as he was gen- 
erally “ butting-in,” or appearing where he was 
not wanted. Consequently he was considered fair 
game for all sorts of jokes. 

“ What are you goin’ to do? ” asked Aleck. 

* I don’t know yet,” replied Jack in a low voice. 
** I’ll think of something.” 


FUN WITH FATHEAD ’’ FARSON 27 


Fathead Farson was now on the depot platform, 
approaching the four boys. 

“ How do you do, Archibald? ” asked Jack in 
dulcet tones, as the indolent lad approached. 

“ Please don’t call me that name,” pleaded 
Archie, with a look of distress. He disliked it ex- 
tremely. 

“ All right, Fathead, I thought — ” 

“ Aw, say, now, fellows, don’t make fun of me,” 
begged the wall-eyed one. “ Ain’t I always been 
a friend of yours? Ain’t I, Jack? ” 

“ Well, sometimes,” replied our hero, doubt- 
fully. 

“ What you doin’ with them boilers ? ” asked 
Archie, catching sight of the new tin receptacles. 

“ Um, ah, that’s telling,” answered Jack myste- 
riously. “ It’s a great secret.” 

“Aw, tell me, Jack; I won’t tell any one. 
Honest, I won’t. Cross my heart. Hope to 
die—” 

“ Oh, you’ll do that fast enough if you don’t 
stop eating pastry,” put in Nat. 

“ Dry up! ” exclaimed Fathead. “ Say, Jack, 
go on, tell me what the boilers are for.” 

“ Do you solemnly promise by the sacred green 
rose that you will never reveal the secret? ” 


28 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“Sure, I promise, Jack. What is it? What 
are they for? ” 

“ Remember, the green rose is the most solemn 
oath known to the court of Her Majesty Queen 
Lalapolussa ! Do you swear by that? ” 

“ Yes, yes! ” promised Archie eagerly. 

“ Come hither, then, most humble slave of the 
secret of the green rose,” spoke Jack in solemn 
tones, and he led Archie to one side. He whis- 
pered to him for a minute or two, and then with 
another warning sent him off toward the water 
tank of the station, which was down the track a few 
rods. 

“What’s up now. Jack?” asked Nat, when 
our hero had joined his comrades. 

“ We are about to initiate Fathead into the order 
of the mysterious green rose,” replied Jack, with- 
out the semblance of a smile. 

“The green rose?” asked Pete, “what’s the 
joke.” 

“ Hearken, and I will a tale unfold,” answered 
the arch conspirator. “ I have just informed 
Archie that there is coming through on this train, 
which bears to our hospitable town Sam and 
Bony—” 

“ Oh, cut that out and get down to facts 1 ” 
exclaimed Nat. “ Withering wangpoodles I 


FUN WITH “FATHEAD” FARSON 


29 


You’re worse than Professor Garlach when he 
wants to pay his beloved friend Professor Socrat a 
compliment in French.” 

“ In plain United States, then,” said Jack, “ I 
have told Archie that there is coming on this train. 
Her Most Beloved Majesty Queen Lalapolussa, 
from Hopskipandjumpol ” 

“ Hopskipandjumpo? ” repeated Nat. “Oh, 
I see, ‘ Hop skip and jump Oh I ’ ” 

“ Yes,” went on Jack. “ You’re a bright boy, 
you are. You get my meaning exactly. Well, I 
have told him that Queen Lalapolussa is coming 
through Denton on this train, and that, in appre- 
ciation of the courteous and cordial reception ac- 
corded her by the citizens of these United States, 
she is going to distribute some wonderful green 
roses, that only grow in her royal gardens of 
Hopskipandjumpo land. We are a committee of 
Bentonites to receive them from her gracious 
hands.” 

“ But where’s he going now? ” asked Pete. 

“ After some water to put in these boilers, so 
that the wonderful green roses will not fade,” re- 
plied Jack. “ I told him we had to come here in 
such a hurry, to meet the queen and receive the 
green roses, that we had no time to get the water. 
He is going to the tank pumpman to borrow a pail, 


30 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


and fill the boilers. For payment he is to receive 
two green roses.” 

“ But if he fills the boilers we can’t drum on 
them and serenade Sam and Bony,” objected Nat. 

“ Patience, most noble Knight of the Green 
Rose,” spoke Jack, in mock-heroic tones. “ When 
Fathead has filled the boilers there will be some- 
thing else doing. Just you watch and see. Here 
he comes now. Let him fill the boilers, and we’ll 
be talking about the queen and the green roses.” 

As Jack spoke, the other boys saw Archie ap- 
proaching, carrying two pails of water, under the 
weight of which he was staggering. But there was 
a look of determination on his face. 


CHAPTER lY 


SAM AND BONY ARRIVE 

“ That's it, Archie,” said Jack kindly, as Fat- 
head set one pail down, and proceeded to pour the 
water from the other into one of the boilers. 
“ Did you get fresh water? ” 

“I guess so. Why?” 

“ Because green roses fade and droop very 
quickly. They must have fresh water.” 

“ Oh, yes, it must be very fresh,” added Nat. 

“ Very fresh,” chorused Pete and Aleck. 

“ The queen was very particular to specify fresh 
water in her telegram, was she not? ” asked Nat in 
an anxious voice. 

“ Did she telegraph you? ” asked Archie, in an 
awe-struck voice. 

“ You must not refer to Queen Lalapolussa as 
‘ she,’ ” spoke Jack in shocked tones. 

“ No? ” inquired Archie. 

“ Most certainly not. Speak of her as ‘ Her 
Imperial Highness,’ or ‘ Her Most Gracious 
Majesty,’ after this, Archie.” 

31 


32 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ I will.’’ 

“ And now hurry and get more water. The 
train will soon be here and we want the boilers 
full. The queen is very particular. We would 
help you, only we are a committee and wc don’t 
want to leave this platform. Besides, you have 
been initiated into the order of the green rose, and 
the latest one to be admitted must carry water,” 
said Jack solemnly. 

“ Oh, I don’t mind,” answered Fathead. “ I’m 
to get two big roses, ain’t I ? ” 

“ The biggest green roses that grow,” replied 
Jack. 

“ I’ll guess we’ll have to get him a couple of 
cabbages,” suggested Nat, as Archie went after 
more water. 

He had the last boiler full as the whistle of the 
approaching train was heard, Jack and his chums, 
meanwhile, keeping him from thinking about what 
he was doing, by talking of the imaginary queen, 
and her still more imaginary roses. 

“ Now, Archie, are you ready for the final act 
of the initiation? ” asked Jack, as the “ butter-in ” 
stood beside the four boys. 

“ Is there more to it? ” asked Archie anxiously. 

“ More to it ? I should think there was I Why, 


SAM AND BONY ARRIVE 


33 


you’re not half initiated yet. The last part is the 
best of all. You have just time for it before the 
train gets in.” 

‘‘Will it — will it hurt?” 

“ Not a bit. It’ll do- you good, this hot day,” 
and Jack winked at his chums, to whom he had 
previously whispered something that caused them 
to laugh as loudly as they dared. 

“ Well — well then, I guess I’m ready for it,” 
announced Archie. 

“You will then be entitled to receive the two 
green roses from the hand of the queen herself,” 
went on Jack. “ Now stand right here,” and he in- 
dicated a spot around which were ranged the four 
boilers full of water. By this time quite a throng 
had gathered at the depot to see the train come in, 
and the people gazed curiously at the group of 
boys. 

“ Gentlemen of the mystic order of the green 
rose, are you all ready? ” asked Jack in a solemn 
whisper, of his chums. 

“ We are,” replied Nat. 

“ Candidate for admission to the Inner circles of 
the court of Queen Lalapolussa, art ready? ” in- 
quired the head joker sternly. 

“ Sure,” answered Archie. 


34 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Knights, all is in readiness,” went on Jack. 
“ We will now proceed with the initiation. Can- 
didate, close your eyes ! ” 

Fathead did so. 

“ One, two, three! Lift! ” called Jack suddenly, 
and, following his example, the other three boys 
quickly tilted the boilers up, by lifting on one 
handle, and four streams of water poured over 
Fathead, wetting him from his knees down, so that 
he stood, for a moment, in the midst of a foaming 
puddle. Jack and his chums, as soon as they tilted 
the boilers, had jumped back. 

“You’re initiated!” cried Jack with a laugh. 
“ You are now a member of the cult of the green 
rose. Fathead. Here comes the train. Come on, 
fellows!” 

“ Yes, and there’s Sam and Bony! ” yelled Nat. 
“ They’re waving at us ! ” 

The four serenaders caught up the boilers, 
grasped the sticks, adjusted the strings about their 
necks, and began to beat a lively if discordant 
tattoo. 

“There’s Jack!” exclaimed Sam to Bony. 
“ And he’s got his crowd with him.” 

“ Yes, it wouldn’t be Jack if he didn’t have. 
Come on ! ” 

The two visitors hurried out on the platform, 


SAM AND BONY ARRIVE 


35 


just as Jack and his chums came marching down it, 
beating with all their might on the tin boilers, and 
making such a racket that the crowd burst into a 
laugh. 

Welcome to our city! ” cried Jade. “ They 
will send you the keys down on a platter as soon as 
they can find the keys and the platter 1 How are 
you, Sam ? Hello, Bony I Glad to see you both ! 
Come on I Here are the boys ! I guess you know 
Pete and Aleck. IVe told you about them. Nat, 
of course, you can’t forget.” 

“Jack, old boy, I’m glad to see you again! ” 
exclaimed Sam, as if It was several years since he 
had parted from his friend, instead of only a week 
or two. 

“ You’re a sight for sore eyes ! ” exclaimed 
Bony, as he stretched to his full height, causing 
a little girl in the crowd to ask her mother if that 
wasn’t the living skeleton she had once seen in a 
circus. 

The boys shook hands all around. 

“ What’s that over there? ” asked Sam. “ Has 
there been a cloud burst?” and he pointed to 
where Archie was stepping out of the mud-puddle 
formed by the four boilers of water he had so 
laboriously carried. 

“ Oh, no. That’s where we just initiated a 


36 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


candidate into the mystical order of the green 
rose,” explained Jack carelessly. 

“ I might have known you were up to some 
trick,” said Sam. 

“ Well, come on,” cried Jack. “ All together 
now, fellows, make a noise! Show our distin- 
guished fellow students from dear old Washing- 
ton Hall that we’re glad to see ’em.” 

They set up a terrific din on the boilers, and 
formed in line to escort Sam and Bony to Jack’s 
house. As they passed Fathead he was cleaning 
the mud off his shoes on the grass. 

“Just you — just you wait — Jack Ranger!” 
he spluttered. “I’ll get even with you all right, 
that’s what I will.” 

“ It was all a mistake,” spoke Jack. “ Queen 
Lalapolussa didn’t arrive. She took a different 
train. I guess Denton wasn’t good enough for 
her,” and the boys, chuckling over the well de- 
served, though not severe punishment, which had 
been visited upon the town nuisance, passed on. 


CHAPTER V 


PLANNING A CAMP 

Well, Jack, how have you been since wf kst 
saw you ? ” asked Sam Chalmers, as he tooi; his 
chum by the arm, an example which Bony Bahnore 
followed on the opposite side. 

“ Oh, so — so. Able to sit up and take a little 
nourishment now and again.” 

“ Mostly again, I guess, if you’re anything like 
what you were at Washington Hall,” spoke Bony. 

“ Well, maybe so,” admitted Jack. 

“ I say,” called Pete. “ Aren’t you going to 
bring your wash boiler along? ” for Jack had left 
his reposing on the edge of the sidewalk some dis- 
tance back. 

“ No. It has outlived it^ usefulness,” replied 
Jack. “ We had sport with them all right. 
Fathead’s face was a sight.” 

“ His feet and legs were a worse one,” supple- 
mented Nat. “ His mother will call him ‘ A-r-c-h- 
i-b-a-l-d ’ to the tune of the long metre doxology 
37 


38 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

when he gets home. Maybe he won’t butt-in next 
time.” 

“ I shouldn’t think he would,” remarked Sam. 

“ Guess who we saw just before you came in,” 
asked Jack with sudden remembrance. 

“ Professor Grimm ? ” inquired Bony, naming 
the person he least expected to hear about. 

“ That’s pretty near it.” 

“ His rascal of a nephew, Lem,” ventured Sam. 

“ You’re getting warm,” declared Jack. “ I’ll 
save you brain-fag and tell you. It was Jerry 
Chowden, and his running-mate, Tom Adams.” 

“Yes, and we had a run-in with them,” added 
Nat. “ But the boilers came in useful on them, 
too.” 

“ Tell us about it,” demanded Sam and Bony in 
a breath, and Jack complied. 

“ If they’re as near as Haddonfield,” said Sam, 
at the conclusion of the recital, “ they may take a 
run over some day to try to make more trouble.” 

“ We’ll give ’em all the trouble they’re looking 
for,” promised Nat with a grin. “ Sinuous sea 
serpents! But Jerry was mad enough to bite a 
nail in two.” 

The boys talked of school matters, of sports 
and games, and their plans for the summer, mean- 
while approaching Jack’s house. 


PLANNING A CAMP 


39 


“ I want you fellows to come over this evening,” 
said our hero, as Nat, Pete and Aleck prepared to 
take their leave. 

“ Anything doing? ” asked Nat. 

“ There may be,” replied Jack. “ Bring over 
Jim Lane and Mort Davis, if you see them.” 

“ Same place? ” asked Nat. 

“ Same place. The boudoir over our barn,” 
and Jack nodded in the direction of the barn, in 
the loft of which he had a sort of work-shop, and 
a general meeting place for his chums. 

“ So long, then,” called Nat, which was echoed 
by the other town lads, and Jack led his visitors 
into the house. Sam and Bony were warmly wel- 
comed by Mr. Ranger and Jack’s aunts. They 
had met Sam before, but Bony Balmore had never 
visited at our hero’s home. Aunt Josephine, who 
was the soui of fun, looked critically at Bony as she 
was introduced to him. 

“ Don’t you do anything for it? ” she asked him 
solemnly. 

“ Do anything for what? ” asked Bony in some 
alarm, as he gazed down at his long legs, and tried 
to get a view of his back. 

“ For that thin feeling,” went on Aunt Jose- 
phine. “ I don’t believe you eat enough. You 
must let me feed you up.” 


40 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Don’t, Aunt Josephine,” begged Jack. 
‘‘ He’ll eat all there is in the house, and ask for 
more; won’t he, Sam? ” 

“ He sure will,” declared the best baseball player 
on the Washington Hall team. 

“You fellows — ” began Bony, and then he 
blushed at what he was going to say before the 
ladies. 

“ Josephine,” said Aunt Angelina solemnly, “ it 
isn’t nice to poke fun at Jack’s guest.” 

“ I can’t help it, sister,” replied the jolly aunt. 
“ He’s so dreadfully — dreadfully — ” and she 
paused for a word to describe the tall lad. 

“ Call him ‘ Bony ’ and done with it,” said Jack. 
“ That’s what we all do. He answers to his name, 
is warranted sound and kind, and a lady can feed 
him, can’t she. Bony? ” 

“ You — you — ” began the badgered one. 

“ I think I can prescribe something that will 
make you a little stouter,” remarked Aunt Mary. 
“ If you were to take boneset tea every night — ” 

“ Spare him, for my sake,” interrupted Jack. 
“ Bony doesn’t want to get fat. If he did he’d 
lose his chance of going in a dime museum as the 
living skeleton as soon as his education is com- 
pleted. Don’t let Aunt Mary give you any of her 
remedies,” he went on. “ I did once. She fed 


PLANNING A CAMP 


41 


me on catnip tea until I began to turn back into a 
baby again.’* 

“ Oh, Jack! ” exclaimed his aunts in chorus. 

There was a merry party at the supper table, 
and, as soon as the meal was over. Jack proposed 
an adjournment to the barn loft, which was fitted 
up with old but comfortable chairs, and places 
where the lads could loll and lounge to their 
hearts’ content. 

“ Say, Jack, you’ve got quite a place,” compli- 
mented Sam, as he gazed around by the light of a 
hanging lamp. 

“ That’s what he has,” added Bony. ‘‘ Do you 
— do they feed you that way all the while, Jack? ” 
he asked, as he thought of the bountiful supper. 

“ Pretty much. I’m a sort of a fatted calf, you 
know. If any fellow wants to be well looked af- 
ter, let him get three old maid aunts, like mine, 
and they’ll do the rest.” 

“ You’re a lucky dog,” murmured Sam, stretch- 
ing out on an old sofa, that had seen its best days, 
but was better prized by Jack on that account. 

“Hark, what’s that?” asked Bony suddenly, 
as from without there sounded the imitation of a 
tree-toad calling. 

“ Those are the boys,” replied Jack, as he gave 
an answering whistle. Then he pulled a handle 


42 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

near the head of an old divan on which he was 
curled up; there was a snapping sound and some- 
thing seemed to fall out of a window that looked 
down on the side yard of the Ranger home. 

“ What’s that? ” asked Sam, in some surprise. 

“ Rope ladder,” replied Jack. “ You see,” he 
went on, “ so many schemes of — er — well, of a 
secret nature, were concocted in this shack, that we 
had to guard against prying eyes. So instead of 
using the regular stairs, I rigged up a rope ladder. 
Whenever any of my friends come to see me, I just 
pull this handle and it releases a spring, which 
holds the rope ladder rolled up. That allows it 
to fall to the ground, and my friends appear, as 
you see them now,” and he waved his hand toward 
the window, which, at that moment framed the 
head of Nat Anderson, who had been the first to 
climb up. 

“ Well, I’ll be pickled! ” exclaimed Bony, crack- 
ing his finger joints in his excitement. 

Nat was followed by Aleck Dawes and Pete 
Ruggles, and two other lads, the last of whom 
hauled up the rope ladder and fastened it in place, 
in a sort of box. 

“ Sam and Bony, these are Jim Lane and Mort 
Davis,” spoke Jack, introducing the other two 
boys. “ Now I guess we’re all here.” 


PLANNING A CAMP 


43 


The newcomers greeted Jack’s guests, and all 
took seats in the most convenient places. 

“Why didn’t we come up the rope ladder?” 
asked Sam. “ I thought you said there were no 
stairs, Jack, but we came up ’em.” 

“ Oh, yes, there are stairs,” admitted Jack, 
“ but they’re a peculiar kind. Just go take a look 
at ’em now.” 

Sam went to the head of the staircase which he, 
Jack and Bony had ascended a short time before. 
Just as he reached them there was a click, and the 
stairs seemed to fall apart. One section rose in 
the air, and the other part descended. 

“What’s that for?” asked Sam. “And how 
do you work it? ” 

“ That’s to disconcert the enemy,” replied our 
hero, “ and I worked it by pulling this lever. The 
stairs are sawed in two,” he went on, as he showed 
Sam how, by pulling on a handle, the trick was 
done. “ The upper part is pulled skyward by 
means of weights, and the lower section falls by 
gravity, precipitating the victim into a bottomless 
pit, filled with hay. It’s my latest invention.” 

“Have you practiced on anyone yet?” in- 
quired Bony. 

“ No, but I think I’ll have a chance soon. I 
had a tip that Fathead Farson is going to sneak 


44 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

around here this evening, to play a little trick on 
me for what we did to him this morning.’’ 

“ Who gave you the tip? ” asked Nat. 

“ Budge Rankin.” 

“ What, the assistant janitor at the Hall? Oh, 
yes, I forgot you told me he lived here,” said'Sam. 
Budge was a queer lad, who had been a sort of 
tramp, but who had been befriended by Jack, who 
afterward got him the position of assistant janitor 
at Washington Hall. In return. Budge, who had 
two odd habits, that of chewing gum and some- 
times talking so fast that all his words ran to- 
gether, had become the firm friend of his bene- 
factor. 

“ Budge tipped me off,” went on Jack. “ He 
said he overheard Fathead asking Tim Rollinson 
to come over here and help him put this place on 
the blink. Budge hurried off to tell me, and got 
to the house when you and Bony, Sam, were wash- 
ing up for supper. So I’m all ready for him. It 
took me a week, some time ago, to fix these stairs, 
but I guess they’ll be worth the trouble.” 

“ But if he sees a light here, and hears us talk, 
ing, he’ll not come,” said Nat. 

“ He’ll neither see nor hear until I want him to,” 
declared Jack. “ Guess I’ll douse the. glims now. 


PLANNING A CAMP 


45 


Fellows, lay low. He may be along any moment. 
If he does come, there’ll be some fun.” 

The lights were extinguished, and Jack, having 
rearranged the trick steps, took his position near 
the operating lever. The lads conversed in 
whispers for half an hour or more, and then, at a 
sudden signal from Jack, ceased. 

“ I think I hear some one approaching,” he said. 
“ Nat, get the bull’s-eye lantern ready to flash when 
I give the word.” 

Nat knew where to find things in the darkness 
of the loft, and soon announced that he was ready. 

Presently those hiding in the barn heard cau- 
tious footsteps climbing up the stairs. Then came 
soft whispers. 

“ They’re out,” spoke a voice that Jack and Nat 
had no difiiculty in recognizing as Fathead’s. 

“ That’s good,” was the reply from one whom; 
they guessed was Tim. “ We’ll turn the place 
topsy-turvy.” 

“ I told him I’d get even,” went on Fathead, 
** but I guess he’ll be surprised when he sees what I 
can do.” 

“ I guess he’ll be surprised when he sees what 
I’m going to do,” murmured Jack, in Nat’s ear. 

Jack kept count of the footsteps, that he might 


46 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


determine when Fathead and his crony were in 
the proper place. Then he gave the lever a sud- 
den yank. 

There was a rattle of boards and weights, fol- 
lowed by startled cries from the two conspirators, 
and, a moment later, there flashed down the dark 
stairway the brilliant gleam of a small, portable, 
electric bull’s-eye lamp. It showed a curious scene. 

In a sort of pit, lined with hay and straw, so they 
could not possibly be hurt, stood Fathead and Tim. 
They looked up in ludicrous amazement, blinking 
at the light. 

“ Good evening, boys,” said Jack calmly, as his 
chums stood grouped about him. “ Why didn’t 
you send word you were coming and I would have 
met you with my auto. Why, dear me, something 
must have happened! You have broken my 
stairs I ” he added, as if in surprise. 

“You let us up out of here. Jack Ranger! ” 
cried Fathead. 

“ Yes, we might have broken our arms or legs, 
and you’d be to blame,” added Tim. “ We could 
have you arrested for this.” 

“ Oh, no, you couldn’t,” replied Jack sweetly. 
“ You were trespassing, and trespassers have no 
rights under the law. Judge Bennett told me that 
when I got bit by Deacon Gray’s bulldog the day 


PLANNING A CAMP 


47 


I snibbied some apples from his orchard,” he 
added. 

“ Well, you let us up out of here! ” demanded 
Fathead. 

“ Yes, you’d better,” went on Tim. 

“ I guess I’ll let you stay there awhile and think 
over some new trick to play on me,” decided Jack, 
as he closed a door at the head of the stairs. 

“ Oh I Oh I Don’t leave us in the dark! ” begged 
Fathead, in alarm. 

“You sneaked in here in the dark, and you 
oughtn’t to mind it,” was Jack’s reply. 

“ Are you going to leave them there? ” asked 
Sam. 

“ They can get out now,” said Jack, pulling on 
another cord. “ This opens a small side door in 
the hay pit, and they can crawl out. But I’m go- 
ing to let them discover it for themselves.” 

“Say, you’re the limit!” exclaimed Bony ad- 
miringly. “ How do you think of all these 
things.” 

“ They come to me in my dreams,” replied Jack, 
without the trace of a smile. “ Now I guess we 
can light the lamps, ‘ On with the dance, let 
joy be unconfined ! ’ ” 

“ No, Fathead and Tim are the only ones who 
are confined around here,” spoke Nat. 


48 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

When the lights were set aglow again, Jack 
went to a cupboard and brought out some cakes, 
and bottles of ginger ale, and soda water. 

“Tm like Old Mother Hubbard,” he said, 
“ only I haven’t any bones in my cupboard, you 
know. Bony has enough and to spare. Here, 
Bony, sit on the other side of the table. I don’t 
want you to fall asleep and topple over on me. 
I’ve got thin clothes on, and though you have 
several fine points about you, I don’t care to have 
them stick in me.” 

Bony fired a thick magazine at his tormentor, 
but Jack dodged it, though he spilled a plate of 
cookies in the scuffle. 

“ I say, fellows,” went on Jack, when his guests 
were as busily engaged In eating, as though they 
had not had supper three hours before, ‘‘ what are 
you going to do this summer? Made any plans, 
any of you? ” 

“ I’d sort of like to go camping,” spoke Bony. 
“ You don’t have to dress up much then.” 

“ Camping sounds good,” added Nat. “ I won- 
der If we couldn’t manage It, Jack.” 

“ I’d like to. We had considerable of it, of a 
certain kind, when we went west last year, but I 
could stand more. I wonder if John Smith could 
be Induced to go along.” 


PLANNING A CAMP 


49 


“ I don’t think so,” replied Sam. “ He told me 
he was going to teach in a summer school on one 
of the Indian reservations.” 

“ Then he’s out of it.” 

“ How many could go camping? ” asked Aleck 
Dawes, for he was not sure whether Jack would 
care to include in the party of his school chums, 
any of the town boys. 

“ As many as want to,” replied Jack heartily. 
“ This bunch here would make a nice crowd to go. 
Could you fellows manage it? ” and he looked at 
Jim, Pete, Mort and Aleck. 

“ I guess so,” replied Mort. “ Where would 
we go? ” 

“ I vote for some place on the sea coast,” put 
in Nat. “ That would be the best. We could get 
the woods and the ocean then.” 

“Sounds good,” agreed Jack. I think — ” 

What he was about to say was suddenly inter- 
rupted by a crash at one of the windows. A stone 
had broken the glass and knocked a chimney from 
one of the lamps. The boys sprang to their feet 
in excitement. 


CHAPTER VI 


AN UNLUCKY STRIKE 

“ Who did that? ” cried Nat. 

“ Easy enough to guess who it was,” replied 
J ack calmly, after the first minute of excitement. 

“ You mean Fathead? ” 

“ Either he or Tim. Tm rather inclined to 
think it was Tim. Fathead is too big a coward to 
risk doing that. Tim’s got more spunk.” 

“ Come on after them,” proposed Sam, making 
for the stairway. 

“ It takes too long to put that in shape again,” 
objected Jack. 

“ The rope ladder, then — ” 

“ Let ’em go,” advised Jack. “ They think 
they’re even with us now, and it will save trouble 
in the end. I’ve got some glass to mend the win- 
dow with, and there are more lamp chimneys 
around the house.” 

“You take it easy,” came from Bony. 

“ Oh, well, maybe I rubbed it in a little too hard 
on Fathead and Tim,” admitted Jack. “ They’ll 
50 


AN UNLUCKY STRIKE 


51 


have more fun telling how they think they scared 
this crowd, and broke a window in my bam, than 
anything that’s happened to them in a year. Let 
’em go. I don’t mind.” 

“ I guess they’re pretty mad,” commented Aleck. 

“ Fathead will be sneaking around in a few days, 
trying to find out some of our plans,” remarked 
Nat. “ Better not let him know we’re going camp- 
ing or he’ll want to go ’long.” 

“ That’s so, we were talking about camping,” 
said Jack. “ Well, let’s go on.” 

They proceeded to discuss the subject in all its 
details, from boating, bathing and fishing, to hunt- 
ing in the woods, the best way to build a campfire, 
and the most approved method of putting up a 
tent. 

“ Have we really decided that we’re going to 
camp? ” asked Nat, when there came a lull in the 
talk. 

“ Well, I think I’ll go,” decided Jack. “ I’ve 
got a good tent. How about you and Bony, 
Sam?” 

“ I’ll go,” declared Bony, and Sam nodded an 
assent. Nat was also sure he could go anywhere 
his chum Jack went, but the other lads would have 
to talk it over with their parents first, so it was de- 
cided to leave the matter open for a few days 


52 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


longer. In the meanwhile, Jack and his chums 
from Washington Hall, including Nat, were toi 
prospect about, and learn, by inquiry or otherwise, 
where would be a good place to set up their tent. 

It was nearly midnight when the little gathering 
broke up, Sam and Bony accompanying Jack into 
the house, and the other youths making for their 
homes. 

“ Don’t forget the ball game to-morrow,” urged 
Sam, as they parted, for in his enthusiasm he had, 
earlier that evening, induced Jack and his chums 
to arrange a practice match on the town diamond, 
for Sam could no more live without an occasional 
game of ball than he could without eating. In 
fact, he would rather go without his meals than the 
game. 

It was no trouble to get together a crowd of boys 
to play baseball when Jack and Nat started out 
with that end in view. Soon after breakfast the 
next morning there were enough lads on the village 
diamond to organize two nines and more. In 
honor of Jack’s two guests, Sam and Bony were 
each allowed to captain a nine, and soon the game 
was in full swing, with Jack pitching on Sam’s 
nine, and Nat on Bony’s. 

The lads were pretty evenly matched, but, by an 
unlucky play by a member of Sam’s team. Bony’s 


AN UNLUCKY STRIKE 


53 


was one run ahead when it came noon-time, and as 
most of the youths had strict injunctions to be home 
for the mid-day meal, under penalty of not getting 
any, they wanted to quit. 

“ We’ll play one more inning,” decided Sam. 
“ We want a chance to beat you fellows.” 

This was agreed to, and Sam’s nine had last 
chance at the bat. Sam made one run, tying the 
score, but Aleck, who got up next, struck out. 

Jim Lane, who followed him, did likewise, and 
then it came Jack’s turn. Our hero stepped con- 
fidently to the bat, for he knew something of Nat’s 
curves, and was sure that he could at least rap out 
a three-bagger, if not a home run. 

“ Now, Jack, old boy, do your best,” urged Sam. 
“ Make believe it’s Jerry Chowden you’re going to 
hit, and swipe the horse-hide for all you’re worth.” 

“ All right,” agreed Jack easily. “ Here goes 
for a home run or a broken bat.” 

He struck with all his might at the first ball 
which Nat pitched, and he felt a thrill of pleasure 
as the willow stick met the sphere with a resound- 
ing “ pang ” which told of a good hit. 

“ Run I Run, Jack ! Run I ” yelled Sam, and Jack, 
flinging aside the bat, sprinted for first. 

Straight out to left field sped the ball, the fielder 
making a vain leap for it as it passed over his head. 


54 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Jack had reached first, and was sprinting toward 
second, when there came a yell from the assembled 
crowd of boys that told of something more than 
a baseball incident. Jack gave one look in the 
direction of the ball he had struck, and was 
startled to see the horse-hide sphere landed square 
in the face of a man who was crossing the further- 
most boundary of the diamond. The man went 
down as if he was shot, and Jack, losing all interest 
in the game, at the thought of having hit someone, 
rushed toward the man. The other players did 
likewise. 

Jack found the stranger sitting on the ground, 
supported by the left fielder, and the man’s face 
was covered with blood. 

“Did I — are you much — are you badly 
hurt ? ” panted Jack as he came up. 

The man looked up quickly, wiping the blood 
away from his nose, which had been struck by the 
ball. 

“ So you’re the one who threw that at me ; eh? ” 
he demanded. 

“ I didn’t throw it,” replied Jack. “ It was a 
batted ball. I struck it.” 

“ Well, it’s likely to prove an unlucky strike for 
you,” went on the man. “ Can’t some of you get 


AN UNLUCKY STRIKE 


55 


me a pail of water? ” he demanded in no gentle 
voice. “ I must look like a fright, all covered 
with blood.” 

“ It was an accident,” said Jack. “ Fm very 
sorry.” 

“ You’ll be sorrier yet, before I’m through with 
you,” snapped the man. “ Where’s the water? ” 
he continued angrily. 

“ Bring the water pail here, Aleck,” said Nat, 
and the lad started after it. 

“ I didn’t see you coming, or I would have 
waited. I usually knock a ball into left field,” 
explained Jack. “ You must be a stranger in 
town. None of the people here cross the diamond 
when a game is in progress.” 

“ Do you mean to say I haven’t a right to cross 
where I did?” demanded the man, rising to his 
feet. 

“ Oh, you have a right to, only it isn’t usual. 
I’m very sorry — ” 

“ There I You needn’t say that again,” inter- 
rupted the man. “I’ll attend to your case 
presently.” 

“ He’s a regular fire-eater,” murmured Sam, 
aside to Jack. 

“ Well, I reckon it must have hurt him pretty 


56 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


bad to get hit on the nose,” admitted Jack. “ I 
guess this breaks up the game. Anyhow, it’s a tie, 
but I could have fetched in that run.” 

By this time Aleck had brought the pail of 
water, and the man washed the blood from his 
face. His nose, the boys could see, was swollen to 
about twice it’s size. 

“ If you would like to come to my house I’ll 
see that you get a clean collar,” proposed Jack, 
for the man’s linen was soiled with blood. 

“ I’ll come to your house, but not to get a clean 
collar,” replied the stranger vindictively. “ I’ll 
come to settle this affair. Is there an officer near 
here?” he asked of several of the boys, turning 
away from Jack. 

“ An officer? What for? ” inquired Sam. 

“ I’m going to have this young scoundrel ar- 
rested for assault and battery.” 

“ It was an accident,” exclaimed Jack. 

“ It was not. You did it on purpose,” de- 
clared the man, more angry then before. “ I’ll 
have you arrested for it, too. Take me to an offi- 
cer,” he demanded imperiously. 

None of the boys moved. Some looked a little 
frightened. 

“ Do you hear? ” went on the man. “ Take me 
to an officer! I want to swear out a warrant for 


AN UNLUCKY STRIKE 


57 


this boy’s arrest. I’ve a good notion to have you 
all arrested.” 

“ We have a right to play ball here,” spoke up 
Nat. “You took a risk when you crossed the 
diamond.” 

“I did, eh? Well, we’ll see about that! 
Come I come I Are you going to tell me where I 
can find an officer? ” 

“ Go look for one,” advised Nat. 

“ None of your impudence, young man 1 ” ex- 
claimed the stranger. “ Evidently you don’t know 
who I am, and what influence I possess.” 

“ I am very sorry this happened,” said Jack, 
manfully. “ I don’t believe, if you have me ar- 
rested, that any good will come of it. It was a 
pure accident.” 

“ If I can’t punish you criminally I’ll sue you 
civilly for damages 1 ” blustered the man. “ I 
guess pedestrians have some rights. You have 
probably broken my nose, and you’ll suffer for it. 
It is very painful.” 

The stranger probably spoke the truth about 
the injury being painful. 

“ Very well,” he went on, when he saw none of 
the boys making a move to lead him to an 
officer, or tell him where he could find one. “ I 
shall get a policeman myself, and he’ll arrest 


ss JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

you at once,’’ he said, looking angrily at Jack. 

He started to leave the field, the crowd of boys 
opening to make room for him. At that instant 
another man approached the group of lads. 

“Why, what’s the matter. Jack?” the new- 
comer asked, and Jack turned to behold his father. 
“ Is anyone hurt? ” went on Mr. Ranger. 

“ Yes, dad,” replied Jack. “ I knocked a ball 
over here, and unfortunately, it struck this gentle- 
man on the nose.” 

“ It certainly did, and I’m going to cause his ar- 
rest for assault and battery ! ” exclaimed the man 
turning back. “ I’m on my way now to find an of- 
ficer. It’s a shame — ” 

He stopped suddenly at the sight of Mr. 
Ranger, and a curious look came over his face. 
He hesitated, and seemed about to beat a precipi- 
tate retreat. 

“Jonas Lavine! What are you doing here?” 
exclaimed Mr. Ranger, as he looked the man full 
in the face. “ I thought you had gone out west ! ” 

“Well — er — I — er — that is — I think I 
must catch my train ! ” exclaimed the man in great 
confusion, and, evidently losing all thought of 
causing Jack’s arrest, the man turned in the 
opposite direction, and made for the depot as fast 
as he could walk. 


CHAPTER VII 


MR. ranger’s story 

The sudden change of front on the part of the 
man, whom Mr. Ranger had evidently recognized, 
surprised the boys. 

“Do you know him, Mr. Ranger?” asked 
Sam, as he looked at the retreating form of Jonas 
Lavine. 

“ I used to,” replied Jack’s father with a 
strange manner. - “ How did the accident hap- 
pen ? ” I 

The boys all tried to talk at once in telling how 
the affair had occurred, but Mr. Ranger managed 
to gather an idea of it in spite of the confusion of 
tongues. 

“ He would have had no right to cause any ar- 
rest,” he said. “ This baseball diamond is private 
property, as far as strangers are concerned, and 
those who walk across it do so at their own risk. 
Still, I’m glad he was not badly hurt.” 

“Do you think he will make any trouble?” 
asked Nat. 


59 


6o JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ I fancy not,” replied Mr. Ranger dryly. 
“ He did not expect to see me here, and I think he 
will leave town on the first train. But, Jack, I 
think it’s time for dinner. Your aunts sent me 
looking for you, as they have arranged a special 
feast of chicken and dumplings to-day, and Aunt 
Angelina is so afraid the dumplings will get heavy 
if you don’t come right away. So I volunteered 
to fetch you.” 

“ Chicken and dumplings, oh, my I ” exclaimed 
Nat in ecstasy, as he heard what Mr. Ranger said. 

“ Come ahead and have some,” invited Jack 
cordially, for he was the most generous lad in the 
world. He would have asked the whole ball-field 
of boys, only all except his more intimate chums 
had dispersed, as they knew their own meals were 
ready. 

“ Yes, come on, boys,” supplemented Mr. 
Ranger, including in the invitation, Nat, Aleck and 
Pete, in addition to Sam and Bony. “ There’s 
plenty of room, and I guess Jack knows his aunts 
always cook about twice as much as is necessary, 
for they never can tell when they’re going to have 
company,” and he laughed. 

The little party moved across the diamond to- 
ward Jack’s house. As they neared the edge of 
the field, and turned into a street leading to the 


f 


MR. RANGER’S STORY 


6i 


Ranger home, Sam, who was walking in advance 
with Jack, nudged his chum suddenly in the ribs. 

“ Here! What you doing that for? demanded 
Jack. 

“ Look there,” spoke Sam quietly, pointing to 
the figure of a youth, not far ahead of them. 

“Jerry Chowden, or I’m a butter-fingers!” 
cried Jack. “ Look, Nat.” 

“ Glittering goblets ! ” exclaimed Nat. “ Our 
friend the enemy! What’s he doing here? I 
didn’t notice him before.” 

“ I did,” remarked Aleck Dawes. “ He was 
over in right field when you hit that fellow with 
the ball. He saw the accident and started toward 
the man, but when he saw you coming, he turned 
back. I didn’t have a chance to tell you before, 
but I knew he was the same fellow you had trou- 
ble with at the depot.” 

“I wonder what he’s doing here?” repeated 
Jack. “ Tom Adams doesn’t seem to be with 
him.” 

“ Maybe he was looking for a chance to get 
even with you. Jack,” suggested Nat. “ Had- 
donvllle Isn’t much of a ride from here.” 

“ That’s so. I wish I’d seen Jerry before. I’d 
have given him all the chance he wanted.” 

“ Oh, you’ve had trouble enough for one day,’^ 


62 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

remarked Sam. “ Only for your dad recognizing 
that chap you might be in jail now.’^ 

“ Not much danger,” replied our hero. “ I 
wonder what dad knows about Jonas Lavine, that 
made the man skip out so quickly,” thought Jack. 
“ I must ask him.” 

Mr. Ranger had gone on ahead, to warn the 
three aunts that a crowd of hungry boys were 
coming, that they might be prepared for the at- 
tack of the enemy on the victuals. Jack and his 
friends watched Jerry until he was out of sight, 
but the bully did not turn around, and gave no sign 
that he had seen our hero. 

“ Guess he’s going to the depot,” ventured Nat. 
“ I hope he stays in Haddonville. I don’t like him 
around, or in the same town where I am.” 

“ I have no use for him, either,” admitted Sam. 
“ He’s a sneak and a coward, and Tom Adams is 
no better.” 

The boys soon switched to baseball, as a hap- 
pier subject, and talked that the rest of the way 
home, Sam urging that some more games be 
played as soon as possible. Full justice was done 
to the chicken and dumplings, to the no small de- 
light of Aunt Angelina, who liked to see hungry 
boys eat. 

“ What you going to do this afternoon. Jack? ” 


MR. RANGER’S STORY 


63 


asked Nat, as he rose slowly from the table. 
Moving quickly, after such a meal as he had eaten, 
was out of the question. 

“ I’m going to rest for awhile,” replied Jack. 
“ I don’t want to go where there are any chickens, 
either,” he added. “ I’m ashamed to look one in 
the face, after I’ve put away so much of their 
brethren. But it certainly was good,” he finished 
with a sigh, regretting, perhaps, that he could not 
partake of more. 

“ I move we all take a rest,” proposed Bony. 

“ He’s afraid of running all his fat off,” ex- 
plained Sam, with a grin at his chum. “ Lie 
around lots. Bony, and you’ll soon get out of the 
bantam weight class.” 

The boys did not feel much like exercise so 
soon after the meal, and they found comfortable 
places on the porch, in easy chairs, or on the big 
lawn, where, under trees, restful hammocks were 
hung. 

Jack, after seeing that his guests were at ease, 
went into the house to get a book to read. He 
saw his father in the library, looking over some 
papers. 

“ Hello, dad,” he called. I didn’t know you 
were here. Say, who was that fellow I hit? You 
seemed to know him.” 


64 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ I do know him, and I regret to say I know 
very little good of him,” replied Mr. Ranger. 
“ I wish you had not come in contact with him, 
and I regret that it was the ball you batted that 
hit him.” 

“Why, dad?” 

“ Because he is a very vindictive man, and he 
may yet try to make trouble for you? ” 

“How can he?” 

“ I don’t know, but I think he will try. I had 
no idea he was in this part of the country. If you 
see him again steer clear of him.” 

“ Why, is he so dangerous? ” 

“ Not specially dangerous, but he is a bad man. 
He is quite wealthy, but he is a sharper from Wall 
street. New York. He is a promoter of all sorts 
of risky schemes. Once he tried to involve me, 
and unthinkingly I got mixed up with him in a 
deal. That was just before I had to go out west 
to escape the service of legal papers, which might 
have resulted disastrously for my friend Mr. Orion 
Tevis. Jonas La vine, who sometimes goes by 
other names, managed to get some money out of 
me, but I got it back, and I got out of his clutches. 

“ I know something of his games, and if I 
wished I could have him arrested on an old charge, 
the consequences of which, so far, he has escaped. 


MR. RANGER’S STORY 65 

That IS why he fears me, and why he left so sud- 
denly when I confronted him.” 

“ He talked very high and mighty to me, but 
he soon came down off his high horse when you 
appeared,” commented Jack. “ I hope he doesn’t 
make any trouble for you, over this affair, or that 
other one, either. You had trouble enough.” 

I do not fancy he will annoy me,” replied Mr. 
Ranger, “ but if I were you I would keep clear of 
him. He would not hesitate to do you bodily 
harm if he got the chance, and I know he cherishes 
a resentment against me. He would like to get 
hold of some of my money that I succeeded In 
saving from him, and other sharpers like him. 
Be on your guard. Jack.” 

“ I will, dad,” replied Jack. He did not know 
how soon he would be obliged to defend himself 
against the wiles and snares of Jonas Lavine and 
his tools. 


CHAPTER VIII 


CHOWDEN AND LAVINE PLOT 

When Jerry Chowden reached the Denton de- 
pot, whither he went from the ball field, to get a 
train for Haddonville, he saw standing on the 
platform a man whose nose was considerably 
swelled, and upon whose linen were spots of blood. 

“ That’s the man who got hit with the ball Jack 
Ranger batted,” mused Jerry. “ I’ll bet he’s good 
and mad. He must have got an awful whack.” 

Jerry walked past the man, glancing casually at 
him. He did not know the stranger, but the lat- 
ter, accosting Jerry, asked: 

“ Do you know when the next train leaves for 
Haddonville? I am in a hurry to get there.” 

“ It leaves in half an hour,” replied Jerry. 
“ Do you live in Haddonville ? I happen to be 
stopping there.” 

“ No, I don’t live there,” answered the man, 
tenderly feeling of his nose, “ but I am stopping 
there for a few days. I don’t seem to remember 
you.” 


66 


CHOWDEN AND LAVINE PLOT 67 


“ I am at the Jefferson House,” went on the 
former bully of Washington Hall. 

“ The Jefferson House ? It’s odd I haven’t seen 
you around there.” 

“ I have only been there since yesterday. I was 
visiting a friend of mine, Tom Adams, at his 
uncle’s home, but his uncle was taken ill yesterday, 
and Tom had to go back home. I thought I’d 
stay in the town a little longer, so I went to the 
hotel.” 

“ Well, I’ve been so busy with certain large 
financial matters that I haven’t had time to notice 
anybody about the hotel,” went on La vine. 
“ That accounts for me not seeing you. What 
floor arc you on ? ” 

“ The second.” 

“ So am I. We must be neighbors.” 

“ It seems so,” admitted Jerry. “You got quite 
a severe crack from that ball,” he went on. 

“What! Did you see the outrageous act of 
that young ruffian? ” 

“Yes sir, I was looking at the game, and I 
saw him bat the ball in your direction.” 

“ I believe he did it on purpose,” declared La- 
vine. 

“ I am sure he did,” agreed Jerry, readily. 


68 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


rd like to find out his name,” went on the man 
with the swelled nose. 

“ I know who it was.” 

“ Who? Tell me and I’ll swear a warrant out 
for his arrest. I would have done so at once, only 
I have to hurry back to transact some business in 
Haddonville.” 

“ His name is Jack Ranger.” 

“Jack Ranger! ” cried the man. “ So, it was 
Robert Ranger’s son who served me this trick, 
eh? Well, now I know how to act.” 

“ Do you know him? ” asked Jerry. 

“ Do you? ” inquired the man quickly. “ Is he 
a friend of yours? ” 

“ Not much of a friend,” replied Jerry bitterly. 
“ I hate him worse than any boy at Washington 
Hall, except maybe Sam Chalmers or Bony Bal- 
more.” 

“ Ah, then you were at school with him,” re- 
marked Lavine smoothly, for already he had be- 
gun to form a plot in his mind, and he saw a tool 
ready to his hand to aid him in carrying it out. 

“ Yes, he was in the same school where I was, 
but I could not stand him or his chums, and so I 
left.” 

“ Do you know much about him? ” went on the 


man. 


CHOWDEN AND LAVINE PLOT 69 


“ More than I want to.” 

“ He seems an uppish sort of a chap,” continued 
Lavine, for he was a good reader of character, and 
he saw that if he took the right methods he might 
learn considerable from Jerry. 

“ He’s too fresh! ” exclaimed the former bully. 
“ I owe him a grudge for several things he did 
to me.” 

“ I think I owe him one also, for what he did 
to me,” declared the man, again tenderly feeling of 
his nose, while a grim smile parted his thin lips^ 
and gave his mean face a still meaner look. “ Per- 
haps if we were to work together we might make 
Jack Ranger feel that he didn’t have things all 
his own way.” 

“ I wish we could,” declared Jerry. “ I came 
over from Haddonville to-day, to see if there was 
any opportunity for me to get square with him, 
but I didn’t see any chance. I’ll get one some 
day, though.” 

“ I hope you do, and that I do also,” remarked 
Lavine. “ Are you doing anything in particular 
these days? ” 

“ No, nothing much. I was thinking of going 
to work, but I can’t find just the right kind of an 
opening. I think I’ll go to New York.” 

“New York would be just the place for a bright 


70 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

young chap like you,” said Lavine, thinking to him\ 
self that he could use Jerry in some of his schemes. 

“ Do you know of an opening there? ” inquired 
Jack’s enemy. 

“ Hum, well, no, not at present, but perhaps 
I could find something myself for you to do. I 
need a little clerical help and perhaps you could 
do what I wanted. It is not difficult.” 

“ ril try,” said Jerry, “ only I must have good 
pay. My folks are fairly well off, and I would 
not work for what an ordinary clerk got.” 

“Nor should I expect you to. I know a smart 
young man when I see one. I would pay you good 
wages if you wish a few weeks’ employment.” 

“ It will do no harm to try it,” declared Jerry, 
who, to tell the truth, was rather short of spend- 
ing money, and who had used so much lately that 
he dared not apply to his parents for more. 

Lavine went into particulars, describing some 
simple clerical work he wished done, and promis- 
ing to pay Jerry well for it. The former bully 
accepted, and the man smiled to himself to think 
how easily the youth had played into his hands. 

By skillful questioning Lavine learned consid- 
erable concerning Jack and Mr. Ranger — infor- 
mation that he decided would enable him to carry 


CHOWDEN AND LAVINE PLOT 


71 


out certain plans he had formed to injure the man 
who had once escaped his clutches. 

“ And I think we can pay young Ranger back 
for some of his insolence,” said the man to Jerry. 

“ I hope so. I would like to see him suffer for 
what he did to me.” 

“ If we get the chance we’ll fix him,” declared 
La vine. “ But I think this is our train,” he 
added, and a little later the two conspirators were 
being whirled toward Haddonville, talking on the 
way of what they hoped to do to Jack, if once 
they got him into their power. 


CHAPTER IX 


OFF, TO CAMF 

Jack was not a little worried by what his father 
had told him concerning Jonas Lavine, but, after 
thinking the matter over, he decided that the 
Wall street sharper would probably not try to an- 
noy him any further. 

“ If he does,” said Jack to himself, as he went 
out of the library, to find some of his chums, 
“ I’ll threaten him with exposure on dad’s account, 
or else I’ll take a baseball bat to him. That’ll 
scare him out. Anyhow, I don’t believe he’ll come 
around here again.” 

Jack found the boys now wide awake, all of 
them having taken short naps after the hearty 
meal. 

“ Come on, let’s do something,” proposed Sam. 
“ I’m getting lazy. I’ll be all out of training for 
baseball if we keep this up long.” 

They followed Jack and Sam down to the river, 
about a mile away, where, in a secluded spot, they 
splashed about in the cool water to their hearts’ 
72 


OFF TO CAMP 


73 


content. They remained in for about two hours, 
and then sat about on the bank, talking over 
various matters. Jim Lane and Mort Davis had 
not gone swimming, and Pete and Aleck left in a 
short time, so there remained on the river bank 
only Jack, Nat, Sam and Bony. 

“ Well, thought any more about camping? ” 
asked Sam, as he laid back luxuriously on the 
grass, and gazed up at the blue sky. “We want 
to get busy if we’re going.” 

“ I know a good place,” said Jack. “ I just 
happened to think of it.” 

“Where is it?” demanded Nat. 

“ Down on the Long Island shore. I was there 
once with dad, on an excursion, and I saw several 
camping parties.” 

“ Aw, we don’t want to go where there are 
lots of others. Jack,” objected Bony. “ Let’s 
get off in a place by ourselves.” 

“ Sure,” chimed in Nat. 

“ There are plenty of secluded spots there,” 
went on Jack. “ I think I can locate a good one. 
We could set the tent up in the woods, near the 
ocean, and we’d have the advantages of both. It 
will be bully sport, boating, bathing, sailing, fish- 
ing — ” 

“Quit it!” cried Sam. “I’m anxious to go. 


74 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

Don’t talk any more about it. Do something ! ” 

“ I will! ” exclaimed Jack. “ I’ll write to-night 
to a man I know down there, and get him to 
arrange matters. We can be camping In a week 
if everything goes well.” 

“ What’s the name of the place? ” asked Sam. 

“ It’s near Sickonsonnett,” replied Jack. 

“ Must be named after an Indian,” observed 
Nat. 

“ A whole tribe of Indians,” added Sam. “ But 
that doesn’t matter. Get busy Jack, I’m tired of a 
civilized life. I want to get back to nature.” 

“ Come on back to the house then,” proposed 
Jack. “ I’ll get my writing materials out. It’s 
getting most supper time anyhow. Come on, 
Nat.” 

“ No, thanks. I’ve got to go home. I haven’t 
been there since morning, and the folks will be 
wondering where I am. Much obliged. I’ll see 
you to-morrow.” 

“ Come over to-night,” invited Jack. ‘‘ We’ll 
talk more about camp, and decide who’s going, 
and what we’ll need.” 

“ All right,” agreed Nat, beginning to dress, 
an example followed by the other lads. 

They were almost finished when they heard the 
puffing of a motor boat coming up the river. 


OFF TO CAMP 


75 


“ Who’s got a putter-craft around here, Jack? ” 
asked Sam, struggling into his shirt. 

“ Blessed if I know. Didn’t know there was 
one. The river isn’t very deep above here, and 
it doesn’t pay to have a motor boat. Must be 
somebody from down Haddonville way,” for the 
river broadened as it approached that town. 

A little later the craft came in sight around a 
bend in the stream. The boys stared curiously at 
it, but their attention was soon taken from the 
boat itself, by a sight of the two occupants of 
it. 

“ Gasoleneous geology!” exclaimed Nat in a 
low voice. “ Will you look who’s in it ! ” 

“ Jerry Chowden! ” cried Jack. 

“ Yes, and that Lavine fellow you hit with the 
ball,” added Sam. “ Maybe they’re looking for 
you, Jack.” 

“ Well, I’m right here,” replied our hero calmly. 
“ I’ll not run away,” and he stood gazing at the 
passing boat. 

But Lavine and Jerry evidently had no intention 
of making any trouble for Jack or his chums then. 
They never even glanced at the group of boys on 
the bank, but stared straight ahead, Lavine attend- 
ing to the engine of the boat, while Jerry steered. 

“ I wonder how he got back here so soon? ” 


76 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


asked Jack. ‘‘ Didn’t we see him heading for the 
station? ” 

“ He probably caught the twelve forty-seven 
train to Haddonville, and came back in the boat,” 
said Nat. “ It’s only a short run, less than eight 
miles on the river. But I never knew Tom 
Adams’s uncle had a motor boat.” 

“ Me either,” said Sam. “ If he had you can 
bet Tom would have boasted of it at school. More 
likely that’s La vine’s boat, but I wonder how Jerry, 
came to get in with him? ” 

“ Birds of a feather eat out of the same drink- 
ing trough,” quoted Bony, getting his proverbs 
all mixed up. 

‘‘ I guess that’s it,” admitted Jack dryly. “ But 
I don’t know that it concerns us. Come on, let’s 
hurry home. Aunt Angelina will be sure to have 
something good for supper. She loves to cook.” 

“ And I know somebody who loves to eat,” 
added Sam with a grin. 

The boys were almost ready to proceed, when 
from up the river, which took quite a turn just 
above the swimming hole, there sounded a loud 
explosion. 

What’s that? ” cried Nat. 

“The motor boat! Maybe it’s blown up!” 
cried Jack, starting in the direction of the sound. 


OFF TO CAMP 


n 


The boys raced off after him, taking a short 
cut across the meadows to where they could see a 
cloud of black smoke arising. As they ran they 
could hear excited shouts. 

“ That’s Chowden yelling,” remarked Sam, as 
he hurried along beside Jack. ^ 

“ Maybe they’re hurt,” suggested Nat. 
“Hurry up!” 

Bony Balmore, by virtue of his long legs, was 
in the lead. He looked back, as he neared the 
river bank and shouted : 

“ She’s on fire, fellows I Come on I ” 

A moment later the other three boys beheld a 
startling scene. The motor boat, in which was 
Jerry Chowden and Jonas Lavine, was all ablaze, 
and the two occupants were in the stern, crouching 
down as low as possible to escape the flames. 
Fortunately the craft was headed toward shore, 
the opposite bank from that on which the boys 
were. 

“ Let’s jump in and save ’em,” proposed Nat, 
always ready for an act of bravery. 

“ It wouldn’t do any good,” remarked Jack 
coolly, taking in the situation with a glance. 
“ They’ll be ashore in a few seconds and if you 
tried to swim in that water you might get burned. 
The gasolene is likely to spread any moment.” 


78 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Hardly had he spoken when there sounded an- 
other explosion, and a sheet of fire appeared on 
the river. The engine of the boat, which had been 
chug-chugging away, in spite of the accident, now 
stopped. But the craft had momentum enough 
to reach the bank, into the soft mud of which, a 
moment later, the nose of the boat was poked. 

“ Jump I ” the boys heard Lavine say, and he 
and Jerry leaped. 

The boat, relieved of its load, and urged out- 
ward by the impulse given it when the occupants 
jumped, floated out to the middle of the river. 
There the current caught it, and began to carry 
it down stream. It was now completely wrapped 
in flames, and beyond saving. 

“ There goes a fine boat,” remarked Sam. 
“ It’s a pity.” 

“ Jerry and Lavine seem to be all right,” said 
Jack. “Want any help?” he called across the 
river, which was narrow at this point. Jack would 
not withhold aid, even from his worst enemy, at 
a time like this. But neither Lavine nor Jerry re- 
turned an answer. They gave one look back at 
the burning boat, which was now sunk to the gun- 
wale, and then they started across the meadows, 
away from the river. 

“ They don’t seem much worried,” observed 


OFF TO CAMP 


79 


Nat. “ It looks as if they came up here on pur- 
pose to wreck the boat,’* 

The four chums gazed after the retreating forms 
of the two, who were hurrying away, when, from 
a little clump of trees, on the farther side of the 
stream, located about three hundred feet from 
where Jerry and La vine then stood, there stepped 
a man. The setting sun appeared from behind 
a cloud just then, and, in the strong light the four 
chums could see that the newcomer had a shock 
of red hair, and a mustache to match. He looked 
first at the group surrounding Jack, and then at 
the two who had just escaped from the burning 
boat. Then he raised his voice in a shout. 

Lavine turned quickly, gazed at the man a mo- 
ment, and, then started back toward him on 
the run. The four boys saw him hand the fiery- 
headed individual a package, speak to him a few 
seconds, and then, with a gesture of caution, La- 
vine turned and rejoined Jerry. 

The red-headed man hastily slipped the package 
under his coat, looked around as if to se^ if any 
one besides the four boys was observing him, and 
then he started oft across the fields, in an opposite 
direction to that taken by Lavine and Jerry. 

“ Say,” remarked Jack, when the red-headed 
man had disappeared behind a clump of trees. 


8o JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“did we really see that, or am I dreaming?’* 
“ Oh, it happened all right,” declared Nat, 
“ but what it means is more than I can fathom. 
Tumbling tadpoles ! What’s up ? ” 

“ It looks as Lavine and Jerry came up here to 
meet that man,” said Sam, “ and as if the accident 
to the boat didn’t make any difference to them.” 

“ That red-headed fellow was certainly waiting 
for them,” was Jack’s opinion, “ and Lavine 
handed him a package which the man seems to 
be very particular about. However, I don’t know 
that it concerns us, so we might as well go back 
home. Hello ! ” he added quickly. “ The motor 
boat’s gone.” 

“ Sunk very likely,” spoke Nat. “ The river’s 
deep here. Maybe we could raise it and fix it up.” 

“ I don’t believe so,” said Sam. “ That man 
probably wouldn’t let you in the first place, and, 
if he did, the engine is probably all burned out. 
Too bad, for it was a neat little craft.” 

Vainly speculating on the meaning of the 
scene they had just witnessed, but never thinking 
that it was soon to play a part in their lives, and 
discussing the incidents of the burning boat, the 
boys started for Jack’s house. Nat left them to 
go to his own home, promising to come over in 
the evening and talk camp. 


OFF TO CAMP 


8i 


There was quite a session in the loft over Jack’s 
barn that evening, and details of camping out were 
discussed at length. Jack wrote to a man he knew 
in Sickonsonnett, and then it was decided to go 
ahead and get their camping outfit ready, in antici- 
pation of a favorable answer. 

This took them the next few days, and when 
a reply did come, stating that Jack’s friend had 
picked out a fine site, in the woods, near the sea- 
shore, and away from all other camps, the boys 
lost no time in completing their preparations. 

“ We’ll start the first thing Monday morning,”’ 
said Jack, when everything possible, including the 
tent and cots, had been sent on ahead. “ Now for 
a glorious time, fellows. Nothing but sport and 
fun for the next six weeks! ” 

The boys were down to the freight depot, see- 
ing to the shipping of their camping stuff, when 
Fathead Farson spied Jack. He had heard of 
the proposed trip. 

“ Oh Jack,” he began, “ can’t I go along? I’ll 
pay my way, and my share of the camping ex- 
penses.” 

“What! Go camping with us. Fathead?” 

“ Don’t call me that. Jack, please,” pleaded the 
town nuisance. 

“Well, Archibald—” 


82 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ That’s worse.” 

“ Well, Archie, do you think you could cook to 
suit us? ” 

“Cook?” and a blank look came over the 
chuckle-headed lad’s countenance. 

“ Yes, cook. We need a cook, as the one we 
hired has left.” 

“I — I can cook beans,” said Fathead. 

“ Yes, and I s’pose you can boil water without 
buiT. ng it,” added Nat. “ Keep on and you’ll be 
a*P ench chef before you know it. I’m afraid. 
Fathead, that you couldn’t suit our critical tastes.” 

rhe lad saw that he was being made fun of, and 
he got angry. 

“ All right,” he declared. “ I’ll go anyhow. 
I’ve got an aunt who lives at the seashore, near 
where you’re going, and I’ll go visiting her. 
That will be better than camping.” 

“ Of course it will,” spoke Sam, “ and then you 
can be sure to get your nursing bottle fresh every 
night.” 

“ I’ll — I’ll punch your face ! ” cried Fathead 
in a rage, but Jack and his chums moved off with- 
out giving him a chance to carry out his threat. 

“ I wonder if his aunt does live anywhere near 
the place where we are going to camp?” asked 
Nat. 


OFF TO CAMP 


83 


“ Somewhere down there,” replied Jack. “ But 
don’t worry. If Fathead comes around butting-in, 
and bothering us, I think I can make him wish 
he hadn’t. :Hello, there’s Budge Rankin.” 

As he spoke a lad approached from around the 
corner of the freight house. He was walking 
slowly along, chewing a big wad of gum, and, 
now and then, pulling a part of it out as far as 
his arm would go, and then getting it into his 
mouth again by winding it around his long tongue. 

“Hello, Budge!” called Jack. 

“ ‘Lo,” was the laconic reply. 

“Doing anything this vacation?” asked Jack. 

“ Notanawfulot,” mumbled Budge, the gum in- 
terfering somewhat with his enunciation. 

“ He means not an awful lot I suppose,” 
murmured Bony. “ Budge is a time saver when 
it comes to words.” 

“ Whatchudoin’ ? ” asked Budge, starting to 
pull the gum out in a long string. 

“ We’re getting ready to go camping,” said 
Jack, “ and it just occurred to me maybe you’di 
like to go along.” 

“ ’Smatter? Ain’tchugotnuff ? ” inquired the 
odd lad. 

“Yes, we’ve got enough to make up a party, 
but we could take one more.” 


84 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Money’stooscarce.’’ 

“ You won’t need any money,” replied Jack. 
“ I was thinking of paying you a small salary, if 
you wanted to go along, to help about camp. You 
can cook some, wash up the dishes, and look after 
the place while we’re away. Want to come? ” 

^ “ Betcherlife,” replied Budge, and that settled 
it as far as he was concerned. 

Jack had previously spoken to his chums of this 
plan, and they had agreed to it. So it was ar- 
ranged, and the next Monday morning Jack, Nat, 
Sam, Bony and Budge started for camp. Aleck 
Dawes and Pete Ruggles could not go just then 
but they promised they might come later and join 
their chums. 


I 



“Under Jack’s direction matters began to shape themselves 
into order” 


Page 86 





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CHAPTER X 


AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER 

Jack and his friends found that an ideal camp- 
ing spot had been selected for them by Mr. Skid- 
more, to whom our hero had written. It was in 
rather a lonely spot, but this just suited the boys, 
for when they went camping they really wanted 
to camp out and not pretend to do so. 

There was a clump of pines near the spot se- 
lected for them, and back of the beach was quite 
a grove of trees, rather wild and lonely, but liked 
all the better on that account. The tent was put 
up just on the edge of the beach, where there 
would be plenty of shade, yet where the sun would 
reach it part of the day. 

“ This is certainly a dandy place I ” exclaimed 
Bony when he had surveyed it from his superior 
height. “Jack, you’re all right; which I believe 
I have remarked before.” 

“ Those noble sentiments do you credit, sir, a 
great deal of credit, sir,” remarked Sam pomp- 
ously, in imitation of Dr. Mead. 

85 


86 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Mystifying mouse traps I cut it out and get 
busy on getting the camp into shape,” interrupted 
Nat. 

“Yes, if we’re going to sleep in the tent to- 
night, it ought to be up,” added Jack. “ Come 
on. Budge, you and I will show these fellows how 
to do things.” 

The tent and other things had been brought 
from a distant railroad station by Mr. Skidmore, 
and were piled in rather a confused heap on the 
beach. 

“ Camping is lots of work, as well as fun,” 
spoke Bony with a sigh, as he noted all there was 
to be done. 

But under Jack’s direction matters began to 
shape themselves into order. The tent was soon 
up and strongly guyed against possible wind 
storms. Then the cooking tent, a small affair 
was set up, for the boys had brought along a gas- 
olene stove, thinking that for so large a party to 
depend on a campfire was too uncertain. Cots 
were set up, the baggage arranged in order, and 
then the boys began to look about them. 

Their camp was on the beach of a sort of shel- 
tered cove, where there was no surf, consequently 
a boat could easily be launched. But it was only a 
short row to the ocean proper. Not far away 


AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER 87 


there was a river which flowed into the ocean, and 
thus they had the choice of three kinds of fishing, 
the still water of the bay, the open sea and the 
river, while for bathing and swimming there was- 
an equal variety. They had hired a couple of big, 
safe boats from Mr. Skidmore, and these were 
now on the beach, out of reach of the high tide. 

“ Me for a good swim I ” announced Sam, when, 
after a couple of hours of hard work the camp 
began to look like something. 

“ And me for a good eat,” sighed Bony. “ I 
say Jack, are you going to put us on a diet? I 
haven’t seen so much as a ham sandwich since we 
arrived.” 

“ I guess we can call it half a day’s work and 
knock off a bit,” replied Jack. “ Budge, set out 
the repast, that my lords and gentlemen may dine.” 

“ Sure’syou’reafoot’igh,” answered Budge sol- 
emnly, and he proceeded to unpack some good 
things from the stores. 

It did not take him long to arrange a satisfy- 
ing, if not very stylish, meal. Meanwhile the 
four lads had gone for a dip in the bay, and came 
back rosy and tingling with health, and possessing 
appetites “ that would make a millionaire dyspep- 
tic feel like a two year old colt just turned out 
to pasture,” as Sam expressed it. They ate heart- 


88 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

ily and then, after a rest beneath the pines, which 
exhaled a grateful odor, they finished up the work 
of making camp. 

“ I guess Pete and Aleck are wishing they were 
with us,” remarked Nat, as he lolled on the warm 
sand, clad only in his bathing suit. 

“ That’s right,” agreed Jack. “ But they may 
be along in a week or two.” 

They went fishing the next morning, and had 
fair luck, and, in the afternoon, rowed up the 
river for a mile or more. The camp was now in 
good shape, and when the four went away Budge 
remained behind to guard it from possible prowl- 
ing tramps. 

Several days passed in this enjoyable manner, 
the boys finding new delights at every turn. Mr. 
Skidmore came over once or twice to see if they 
wanted anything, but the lads were used to relying 
on themselves, and they knew how to camp. 

One afternoon, when they were lolling about 
the tent on the beach. Jack gave a sudden ex- 
clamation. 

“What’s the matter; sand flea after you?” 
asked Sam. 

“ No, but here comes that snip. Fathead. Now 
take your cues from me, and we’ll have some fun 
with him. You all pretend to be asleep.” 


AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER 89 


Gentle snores from Jack’s chums, including 
Budge, indicated that they had fallen in with his 
trick. Fathead Farson came strolling up the 
beach. He had come to pay his aunt a visit, and, 
learning where the Denton boys were camped, had 
decided to pay them a call, to show them that he, 
too, could come to the seashore. 

“ Hello, Jack,” he called, as soon as he was 
close to the tent. 

“ I beg pardon,” replied Jack drawlingly, as he 
looked at Fathead. 

“ I said hello,” repeated Archie, twisting his 
flabby lips into what he meant to be a smile, but 
which was only a grin. 

“ I think you have the advantage of me, my 
dear chap,” spoke Jack tantalizingly. “ I haven’t 
the honor of your acquaintance; really I haven’t.” 

“ Aw go on,” said Fathead. “ Quit your fool- 
in’ Jack. You know me. I’m Archie Farson.” 

“ Archie — Archie — Ah, I presume you mean 
Archibald.” 

“ Aw, don’t call me that; please don’t.” 

“ Why I don’t intend to call you anything. I 
don’t know you,” spoke Jack, looking at Fathead 
as if he were the veriest stranger. 

“ Aw, quit yer foolin’ ” urged the nuisance. 
“ You know me. So do all the fellows. So this 


90 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

is where you’re camping; eh? I told you I’d find 
you.” 

“ Do you mean to tell me any of these gentle- 
men know you? ” asked Jack, as if in amazement. 

“ Course. There’s Nat Anderson, and Sam 
Chalmers and Bony Balmore and Budge Rankin.” 

“ It seems to me you are very familiar with the 
names of these friends of mine,” spoke Jack coldly. 
“ I will prove that you are in error, and that none 
of them know you.” 

He gently shook Nat by the shoulder. 

“ Do you know — er — this person? ” he asked 
in an affected drawl. Nat, who had “ caught-on ” 
to Jack’s trick, opened his eyes, and looked at Fat- 
head. 

“ Certainly I don’t know him,” he said. 

“ Why Natl ” exclaimed Archie. “ Of course 
you know me.” 

“ Don’t know you from Adam,” went on Nat. 
“ Mulligan’s molasses barrel ! Who is he, any- 
way, Jack? ” 

“ I don’t know. Perhaps Budge knows him.” 

Budge was awakened, and, entering into the 
joke, replied to Jack’s question : 

“ I’dknowimatall.” 

“ Why Budge Rankin ! ” exclaimed Archie. 

“Just to prove how much you are in error I 


AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER 91 


will awaken these other two gentlemen,” went on 
Jack. “ After that I hope you will trespass no 
further on our time.” 

In turn Sam and Bony, without a smile on their 
face, declared that Archie was a total stranger to 
them, which, in fact he was, since they had only 
seen him since arriving in Denton, and only really 
knew him by Jack’s account. 

“ You see,” spoke Jack triumphantly, “ you are 
mistaken. None of us know you.” 

Fathead did not know what to make of it. He 
knew it was some joke Jack had arranged, but he 
was not bright enough to fathom it. 

“ Don’t you know me ? ” he pleaded, wondering 
if he had so changed in appearance that he was 
unrecognizable. 

“ Do we know him?” asked Jack, turning to 
his chums. 

“ We don’t know him I ” they replied in a sing- 
song chorus, and then they turned over on their 
backs and pretended to go to sleep. 

They don’t know you I ” chanted Jack. 
“ They know you not — you not — know you not! 
They know you not ! Not ! Not !Not 1 ” 

“ Don’t! Don’t! ” pleaded Archie, not knowing 
what to make of his reception. “Please don’t! 
You know me. Jack! ” 


92 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ I know you not ! I know you not ! Know 
you I ICnowyou! You! You! You! Not! Not! 
No! N — o — No! N! N! N! O! O! O!” 
and with that comic opera effect, Jack, too, turned 
over and closed his eyes. 

Fathead, puzzled and alarmed, hurried off up 
the beach, never once looking back at the lads who 
had given him such a peculiar greeting. 

“ There, I guess that will detain him for a 
short space of time,” remarked Jack, as he sat up. 

“ The idea of him butting-in here ! He’s a reg- 
ular nuisance.” 

After supper that night they went for a moon- 
light row on the bay, and in the morning Sam 
proposed that they go up the river fishing. 

“ I think it will be more fun to try the bay,” 
suggested Jack. “ The weak fish arc running well 
now, and they make good eating.” 

“There are fine fat crabs in the river,” de- 
clared Sam. “ I love crab salad. Can you make 
it. Budge? ” 

“ ’FIgithcrabs,” was the guarded answer, while 
Budge carefully selected a fresh piece of chewing 
gum. 

“ Of course,” admitted Sam. “ Well, I’ll get 
some.” 

As Jack and Sam could not agree it was arranged 


AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER 93 


that Sam and Bony would row up the river, while 
Jack and Nat went to try their luck in the bay. 
They had two boats, and the party could be thus 
divided, leaving Budge in camp, where he was 
content to loll on the sand until the boys returned. 

As it happened either the weak fish were not run- 
ning well, or Jack and Nat did not know how ta 
catch them, for, after two hours spent in the boat, 
under the hot sun, they decided to return to camp. 

“ I hope Sam and Bony have some luck,” re- 
marked Jack. 

“ So do I,” agreed Nat. “ We’re pretty rank 
fishermen I guess.” 

“ It was the fault of the fish,” said Jack, as if 
that settled it. 

They found Sam and his chum had not returned 
yet, and they set Budge to work getting a meal of 
canned things, for it was getting close to dinner 
time. 

“ Here they come,” announced Nat at length, 
as he looked up, and saw a boat, containing the 
two boys, coming down the shore from the direc- 
tion of the river. 

“ They’re rowing fast, too,” added Jack. 
‘‘ They must have had some luck.” 

“Did you get any?” asked Nat, as the boy^ 
came within hailing distance. 


94 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ A few,” replied Sam shortly, and his manner 
was so strange that Jack remarked: 

“ Something must have happened.” 

He hurried down to where Sam and Bony were 
pulling their boat up on the beach. 

“ Why you got quite a few crabs,” he said, look- 
ing into the basket in the bottom of the boat. 
“ What’s the matter? Did you get hurt, or have 
any bad luck? ” 

“ Not exactly,” answered Sam, “ but we saw 
some one we didn’t expect to see.” 

“Where?” 

“ In the woods.” 

“ Who was it? ” 

“Hemp Smith!” was Sam’s unexpected an- 
swer. “ Bony and I spied him just as we were 
getting ready to come back to camp.” 

“ Did he see you? ” inquired Jack eagerly, for 
he had heard nothing of Marinello Booghoobally, 
the pretended mystic-worker, since the former 
term at school, when Hemp tried to play a mean 
trick on our hero, but which Jack turned so that he 
foiled a plot of the sharper, and got back a 
diamond the rascal had secured. 

“ I think he did,” replied Sam. “ He knows 
me you know, from having seen me with you, and 


AN unexpected encounter 95 


as soon as he had a glimpse of me, he, and the 
chap with him, started off through the woods.” 

“ Who was with him? ” inquired Jack eagerly. 

“ I’m not sure, but I think it was that La vine 
man.” 

“ What, Jonas Lavine ? The fellow I hit with 
the ball? ” 

“ I’m pretty sure it was him,” went on Sam. 

“ Then they’re up to some game,” decided Jack. 
“ Two such scoundrels as they are don’t go 
strolling through the woods together for nothing. 
Boys, there’s something up, and we’d better be 
on the lookout I ” 


CHAPTER XI 


JERRY SURPRISES LAVINE 

Jack’s announcement, made with much serious- 
ness, rather startled his chums. They saw that he 
was disturbed over something. 

“ What do you think Is up? ” asked Sam. 

“ I don’t exactly know,” was Jack’s reply. 

“ Do you think Lavine Is after you because that 
ball hit him? ” Inquired Nat. 

“ Hardly. But it certainly seems odd for Hemp 
Smith to be in this vicinity. I never knew him 
to show up around where I was without something 
happening. I’ll wager It does this time, too.” 

“ Well, I’m pretty sure It was Lavine and 
Hemp,” went on Sam. “ They disappeared so 
quickly when they had caught a glimpse of us, 
though, that I couldn’t be certain.” 

“ Juknowhatl’do ? ” asked Budge suddenly, for 
he had been listening to the talk. 

“ What would you do? ” Inquired Jack, for he 
knew that sometimes his odd friend had good 
ideas. 


96 


JERRY SURPRISES LAVINE 


97 


“ rd take a walk in the woods near where those 
men were,” went on Budge, removing his gum 
from his mouth, and speaking slowly, as befitted 
the seriousness of the subject. 

“ That’s a good idea,” declared Sam. “ Come 
on, we can row back there in less than an hour.” 

“Stay! Pause, rash youth!” interrupted 
Nat. “ Would’st venture on another journey 
half famished as we are? Let us dine first.” 

“ That’s another good idea,” said Jack. 
“ Budge, hustle up the grub, or, as my friend Nat 
would say ; ‘ set out a small repast for these hungry 
mortals.’ Then we’ll take a look at the place 
where our mysterious friends were.” 

Little time was lost over the meal, and early in 
the afternoon the boys, in their two boats, were 
rowing up the river. They disembarked at a spot 
pointed out by Sam. 

“ Here’s where we saw them,” he said, indicat- 
ing the place. “ They were right near this dead 
oak tree, and they went off in that direction. We 
lost sight of them almost at once.” 

“ That’s rather odd,” remarked Jack thought- 
fully. 

“ What is?” 

“ Losing sight of them so soon. From where 
you stood you ought to have been able to see them 


cs JACII RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

for quite a distance. The woods are open in all 
directions.” 

“You’re right, Jack!” exclaimed Bony. “I 
thought there was something queer about it.” 

“ About what? ” 

“ The way they disappeared. They seemed to 
vanish all of a sudden, as though they stepped into 
a hollow or got behind a big tree. I remember 
now I remarked that at the time, but Sam was so 
excited over recognizing Hemp Smith, that neither 
of us gave a thought to the odd manner in which 
the men disappeared.” 

Jack did not reply. Instead he darted forward 
and began to look over the ground near where 
the two men had stood. 

“ Nothing out of the way here,” he said, with 
rather a disappointed air. 

“ What did you expect to find? ” asked Nat. 

“ I thought there might have been some sort 
of a hollow where they hid until you were out of 
the way, but there doesn’t seem to be any. 
There’s something odd about it, just the same.” 

“ There is that,” admitted Sam. “ They did 
disappear quite mysteriously.” 

“ Hello 1 ” exclaimed Nat suddenly. “ Here’s 
a bunch of horse hair that some bird gathered for 
a nest, and forgot to use,” and he plucked some- 


JERRY SURPRISES LAVINE 99^ 

thing from a low bush and held it up for the in- 
spection of his chums. 

“Horse hair?” asked Jack. “Did you ever 
see a horse with red hair like that — ” 

He stopped, as though a new idea had come to 
him, and took the hair from Nat. 

“The red-headed man!” he cried. “Look, 
fellows, this is the exact color of his hair.” 

“ So it is,” declared Nat. “ I never thought of 
that. The red-haired man who met Lavine and 
Jerry in the meadow when the boat blew up! 
He’s been here ! ” 

“ Are you sure neither of the men you saw had 
red hair? ” asked Jack of Sam and Bony. 

“Sure,” they replied, while Sam added: 
“ Hemp’s hair is as black as a coal, and it hasn’t 
changed any since I last saw him. I’m sure he 
was one of the two.” 

Jack shook his head. Something baffled him, 
but he did not want to speak of a certain idea that 
was In his mind, until he had Investigated a little 
further. Nothing more was to be gained by re^ 
maining In the woods, and the boys rowed 
leisurely back to camp, talking meanwhile over the 
rather strange happening. 

For a few days after that. Including Sunday, 
nothing unusual occurred. The boys enjoyed the 


loo JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


boating, bathing and fishing, afforded by the 
waters about their camp, and they spent consider- 
able time resting in the shade, telling stories and 
recalling boarding school days. 

“ This is just the time for a little row out on 
Old Briny,’* announced Jack one morning, as he 
peered out of the tent, and saw how calm the bay 
was. “ There’s no wind, and there can’t be much 
of a swell on. The last time we went outside it 
was a bit too rough. What do you fellows say to 
a row outside? ” 

“ I’m with you,” replied Sam. “ Maybe we 
can catch some blue fish.” 

“ Youghtercatchsomething,” spoke Budge quick- 
ly, as he arose to get the breakfast. 

“ Why had we? ” inquired Nat. 

“ Ain’t nothin’ much t’ eat here,” was Budge’s 
answer, as he inserted a fresh wad of gum. 

“ That’s so, Mr. Skidmore is to bring us a 
supply of provisions to-day,” said Jack. “ I saw 
that the cupboard was getting low, and I wrote to 
him to fetch some grub over. It’ll be here to-day, 
Budge, so if we don’t catch any fish we’ll not 
starve.” 

“ That’s good,” was all Budge replied, as he 
«et the teakettle on the gasoline stove to boil. 

It was a good thing Jack had ordered a supply 


JERRY SURPRISES LAVINE loi* 

of edibles as the boys only caught one bluefish, and 
a small one at that. As they started back toward 
camp, having thoroughly enjoyed the row on the 
ocean, which was almost as calm as the proverbial 
mill-pond, they heard the puffing of a motor boat 
off to one side. 

“ Wish we had one of those,” said Jack. 
“ Next time I come camping I’m going to have 
one. This rowing is too much like work.” 

“ Good idea,” answered Bony. “ You can 
have my vote for a putter-craft.” 

As he turned to look at the motor boat which 
Was approaching, he gave a start, and called in a 
low voice to his chums: 

“ Look who’s in it.” 

“ Jerry Chowden and Tom Adams,” said Jack. 
“ Well if that isn’t the limit! They seem to be 
following us.” 

The motor craft was approaching closer. 
Then came a shrill whistle from it, and Jerry’s 
taunting voice cried out : 

“ Get off our course or we’ll run you down 1 ” 
You’d better try it,” fired back Jack. “ We 
have the right of way, and if you try to ram us 
you’ll get the worst of it I ” 

** Aw, don’t think you can scare us,” added Tom. 
^ Is that your camp over there ? ” and he pointed 


102 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


to where the white tent of the boys could be seen, 
on the beach. 

“ Yes, it is, but if we catch either of you fel- 
lows around there we’ll throw you into the bay,” 
said Sam, who had a feeling of enmity of long 
standing against both Jerry and Tom. 

“ No danger. We don’t care enough for your 
society to call on you,” cried Jerry. “ Look out 
now. I’m going to cross there. Stop rowing or 
I’ll ram you.” 

“ We’ll not stop rowing,” retorted Nat. “ The 
ocean is wide enough for you to pass us without 
coming anywhere near us. If you do I’ll jab this 
boathook into you,” and he caught up a long, 
sharp one. 

“ That’s the idea,” declared Sam, taking 
another. “If you come near enough to us, Jerry, 
we’ll make fast and we’ll give you the dandiest 
licking you ever had. We’ve turned pirates since 
we came here,” he added in savage glee, “ and we 
don’t care what we do. We’d just as lief put a 
hole in you as not.” 

“ Keep off ! Don’t go too close,” the boys 
could hear Tom Adams begging. He was a worse 
coward than Jerry. 

“ Aw, who’s afraid? ” asked his crony, but the 
boys noticed that Jerry shifted the steering wheel 


JERRY SURPRISES LAVINE 


103 


so as to send the motor boat a safe distance away 
from the rowing craft, and out of reach of the 
long boathooks. 

“ Tom and Jerry must be camping somewhere 
around here,’* remarked Jack, when the two bullies 
were beyond hearing distance. 

“ Looks like it,” admitted Sam. 

“ It’s too bad,” added Nat. “ We can’t have 
any fun if they’re within ten miles. We always 
seem to be meeting them.” 

“ I guess they’ll give us a wide berth after this,” 
was Jack’s opinion. “ They evidently did not ex- 
pect to find us here. This locality seems to be a 
favorite one for people we don’t like. There’s 
Lavine, Hemp Smith, Fathead Farson, and now 
Jerry Chowden and Tom Adams.” 

“ Yes, the Board of Health ought to be noti- 
fied,” remarked Bony solemnly, whereat his chums 
laughed. 

They reached camp, to find that Mr. Skidmore 
had brought a plentiful supply of food, part of 
which Budge had cooking for a late dinner. 

If Jack and his friends could have witnessed a 
scene which took place shortly after this, they 
would have been more surprised than ever, over 
what seemed a strange coincidence. For Jerry 
Chowden, and his crony, having taken their motor 


104 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


boat to a cove about ten miles from where our 
friends were camped, went ashore. There Jerry 
met Jonas Lavine, who seemed to be waiting for 
him. 

“ Did you bring the paper? ” asked Lavine. 

“ Yes; here it is,” replied Jerry, passing over a 
flat bundle. “ But I brought something else, too.” 

“ What is it?” 

“ Information.” 

His manner rather startled Lavine, who asked: 

“What’s the matter? Are the police — ” 

He stopped in some confusion. 

“ We met Jack Ranger and some of his chums 
on our way here. They are camped near Sickon- 
sonnett, on the beach.” 

“Jack Ranger, camped near here! ” exclaimed 
Lavine. “ Are you sure ? ” 

“ Positive; aren’t we Tom? ” 

“ Sure.” 

“ Ranger camped near here,” murmured Jonas 
Lavine, clearly made uneasy by the news. “ I 
wonder if he can be spying on me? ” he added in a 
low voice. 


CHAPTER XII 


A STRANGE DISCOVERY 

“Who’s for a swimming race?” called Jack 
that same afternoon, when, following a substantial 
meal, the campers had been stretched out in the 
shade for some time.“ I feel like splashing about in 
the water, and the tide’s just right.” 

“ I’m with you,” declared Sam, beginning to 
take off his shoes. “ First out to the channel buoy 
wins ! ” 

This was a red and black spar, anchored on a 
sand bar in the channel. The boys had built a 
small float of trees, which they cut down in the 
woods, and they used this as a place from which 
to dive. Soon Jack, Sam, Bony and Nat were 
standing on the float, clad in their bathing suits, all 
poised for a plunge. 

“ Aren’t you coming. Budge? ” called Jack. 

“ Stooeasyly inhere,” replied Budge from where 
he reclined under a tree, calmly chewing gum. 

“ He’s always looking for something easy,” 
105 


io6 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


commented Sam. “ Come on, fellows, one, two, 
three! Go!” 

Four bodies sprang as one from the float, and 
splashed into the water. Eight arms began sweep- 
ing the sun-lit wavelets and eight legs kicked 
vigorously out, each lad determined to be first at 
the spar buoy. 

Jack won, but by a narrow margin, for Bony, 
in spite of his thin structure, was a fast swimmer, 
and he was only half a length behind our hero. 

“ Now back again ! ” cried Sam, who, though 
not so fast as his chum, was good for a long dis- 
tance. 

“ Not for mine. I’m going to rest a bit,” de- 
clared Nat. He clung to the buoy, letting his 
body float lazily in the warm water. 

The others splashed about, Sam fetching a long 
reach under the surface, for he could hold his 
breath a most astonishing length of time. They 
remained in the water for nearly an hour and then 
raced back to shore. Bony winning this time, to 
even things up. They found Budge busy getting 
a meal, for this was a task at which the odd lad did 
not spare himself. He was a regular jewel to take 
camping. Jack said. 

They spent that evening rowing on the bay, and 
and planned for the next day to make a trip up the 


A STRANGE DISCOVERY 


107 


river after crabs, for Sam had set his heart on 
some salad made from the crustaceans, and on the 
former trip he and Bony had not had very good 
luck. 

They started off in the two boats the next morn- 
ing, leaving Budge in camp, where he was quite 
content to stay, chewing gum and reclining in the 
shade. They took along some meat to tie on the 
end of strings for bait, and long-handled nets, to 
scoop up the crabs when they grabbed the bait in 
their claws. 

“ IVe got one! ” cried Sam, pulling cautiously 
on his cord, after they had been fishing for half an 
hour. “ He’s a beaut too I ” 

But alas for his luck 1 Either he was not quick 
enough, or the crab was a wary old resident of 
the river, for there came a loud splash and Mr. 
Crab dropped back into the water, while a look of 
the deepest disappointment came over Sam’s face. 

But that seemed the end of their bad luck, for, 
from then on the boys caught several of the shell- 
fish — enough to insure plenty of salad. 

‘‘ I’m going for a stroll in the woods,” an- 
nounced Jack at length. “ I’ve got enough crabs. 
Coming fellows ? ” 

“ I’ll go,” said Nat, who was in the same boat 
with Jack. 


io8 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ The crabbing is too good to miss,” replied 
Sam. “ When the tide turns they won’t be here. 
I haven’t half enough yet.” 

“ If you eat half what you’ve caught you’ll have 
to have a doctor,” retorted Jack. “ Come on 
then, Nat. We’ll leave those fellows to clean the 
river of crabs.” 

“ Where are you going?’ asked Nat, when he 
and Jack were ashore. 

“ No place in particular. I just thought I’d 
look about and see if I could catch sight of Hemp 
Smith or Lavine.” 

Jack strolled idly on. He had no idea that he 
would see either of the men, who seemed to be so 
mysteriously involved In his affairs, yet he could 
not help thinking how strange it was that they 
should have been seen In these woods, and together. 
He more than half hoped that he would catch a 
glimpse of them. 

“ Well, going much farther? ” asked Nat, when 
Jack had walked on for perhaps half a mile, with- 
out speaking. 

“ No, I guess not,” was the reply. “ Might 
as well go back.” 

He turned, and stood looking at a bird of 
brilliant plumage that was perched on a branch 
near him. Nat, too, was looking at the feathered 


A STRANGE DISCOVERY 


109 


creature. Then, all at once, the boys were aware 
that someone was approaching through the woods. 
They could hear the sound of footsteps, and of 
twigs and branches being broken as the advance 
was made. 

“ Somebody’s coming,” whispered Jack. 

“ Sure,” answered Nat cautiously. “ I won- 
der — ” 

He said nothing more, for at that instant they 
both saw, through an opening between the trees, 
two men, who were walking cautiously across the 
trail the boys had just left. And one of the men 
was Jonas La vine, while the other was Hemp 
Smith. 

“ Come on,” whispered Jack. 

“Where?” 

“ We’ll follow them and see where they go. 
There’s something going on, or they wouldn’t be 
here again. Go easy now.” 

He had spoken in a whisper. The men were 
not aware of the presence of the boys. Jack and 
Nat were adapts at progressing without making a 
sound, for, more then once, they had made their 
escape from the dormitory at Washington Hall 
when orders were strict that no one should go out, 
and they had often gone hunting, when their 
success depended on their quietness. Consequently 


no JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


they were able to trail after Hemp Smith and 
Lavinc without the men being aware of it. 

The men soon came out on what seemed to be a 
new path made through the woods, and taking care 
not to get too close, the boys kept after them. 
Suddenly Jack, who was in the lead, held up a 
warning hand. Nat knew what that meant, and 
he crouched down, close to the ground, as he saw 
his chum do. Nor were they a moment too soon, 
for the two men turned and scanned the trail over 
which they had just come. The boys could hear 
the murmur of voices. 

The sounds ceased. Then came a rustle of 
bushes. Jack waited a few moments, not daring 
to raise his head to look. When he did he stared 
in astonishment about him, for the men had disap- 
peared, though the trail, which was straight for 
some distance ahead, showed no signs of them. 
The men had utterly vanished, almost before the 
very eyes of the boys ! 

“ They’re gone,” spoke Nat. 

“ Yes, just like the day when Sam and Bony 
saw them,” added his chum. There’s some- 
thing queer around here, and I’m going to find out 
what it is.” 

He rose to his feet, and stood in a listening at- 
titude. No sound, save the wind in the trees, or 


A STRANGE DISCOVERY 


111 


the calls of distant birds, came to them. The 
woods were silent. 

Then, with a suddenness that was startling, 
there was heard, almost at the very feet of the boys, 
a rumbling sound. The ground seemed to vibrate 
slightly. 

“What’s that? An earthquake?” asked Nat, 
in some fear. 

Jack shook his head. Clearly he was puzzled. 
The rumbling increased, and the ground trembled 
more. Then, from a little clump of stones, off to 
the left, a small cloud of vapor arose. 

“A volcano I Tommy cods to tom cats I ” ex- 
claimed Nat. “ We’re over a volcano ! ” 

“ Easy I ” cautioned Jack, for Nat had spoken 
aloud. 

Jack walked softly over to the stones, whence 
the cloud of vapor arose. He bent down over 
them. Then he sniffed the air vigorously. He 
had made a startling discovery. 


CHAPTER XIII 


AN UNDERGROUND PRINTING PLANT 

“What Is it?” asked Nat anxiously. 

Jack did not answer. He beckoned for his 
chum to join him. Nat, as silent as a cat, walked 
from a path on which he had remained standing, 
and came to where the group of stones were, with 
the faint cloud of vapor curling upward. 

“ Smell,” whispered Jack. Nat did so. 

“ What Is it? ” asked his chum. 

“ Gasolene.” 

“ That’s right. What else do you smell? ” 

Nat took another deep sniff. 

“ It smells like — like — um — er — like the 
office of the Weekly Gazette, In Denton,” he an- 
swered. “ Like a printing place.” 

“ And that’s what It Is,” declared Jack. “ It’s 
an underground printing plant, as sure as you’re a 
foot high.” 

“ But what in the world are they doing with a 
printing plant out here In the woods? And 
where did La vine and Hemp Smith disappear to? ” 

XI2 


AN UNDERGROUND PRINTING PLANT 113 


“ Those are questions, Nat, which require con- 
siderable studying over before they can be 
answered. The main point is that we have dis- 
covered something.” 

“ But what does it all mean? ” 

“ That I don’t know, but I’m going to before 
very long.” 

“Petrified printers’ inki ” exclaimed Nat. 
“Who would have thought it? Maybe Lavine 
and Hemp Smith are down there! ” 

“ ‘ Down there ’ implies some sort of an under- 
ground place,” went on Jack. “ We have only be- 
gun to discover things, Nat. As soon as I smelled 
the fumes of gasolene I knew it must be an engine, 
run by that power, which was making the vapor. 
My nose confirmed my belief. That was what 
caused the rumbling and the shaking of the ground. 
You can feel it plainer here.” 

Nat noticed that this was so. There seemed to 
be a miniature earthquake in progress underneath 
where they stood. 

“ And when I caught the smell of printers’ ink, 
I knew what I was up against,” went on Jack. 
“ This is the chimney to their underground place. 
This is a hole in the cave in which they must be 
working, and which carries off the smoke and 


1 14 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


smells. They have the engine pretty well muffled, 
or it would make more noise.” 

“ But what in the world do they want with a 
printing office out here in the woods, and under- 
ground?” 

“ Those are questions which we will have to ask 
Lavine, Hemp Smith and company,” answered 
Jack. “There’s some game on — I’m sure of 
that. What it is I haven’t the least idea, but I’m 
going to find out. I can understand one thing, 
however. I know how Hemp and Lavine disap- 
peared so suddenly.” 

“ How?” 

“ They went into the cave. There must be an 
entrance somewhere about here. We’ll find it too, 
and then we’ll see what they have to say for them- 
selves.” 

“ Maybe it’s dangerous.” 

“ Maybe it is, but it won’t be the first time we’ve 
run into danger; will it, Nat? ” 

“ No. We had our share of it on your western 
trip.” 

“ I’ll get to the bottom of this,” declared Jack. 

“ Which, the cave or the mystery? ” 

“ Both,” replied our hero, smiling at Nat’s joke. 

“ Maybe they’re printing ‘ Black-hand ’ letters 
out here,” suggested Nat. 


AN UNDERGROUND PRINTING PLANT 115 


“ They don’t need a press for such work as 
that,” replied Jack. “ Besides the scoundrels who 
make use of such threats don’t send out enough of 
their warnings to require a press. No, it’s some 
other game that Lavine and Smith are up to. I 
wish I knew what it was. But the first thing to do 
is to find out where the entrance to the cave is.” 

“ Let’s take a look around,” suggested Nat. 
“ It must be ahead here, for that’s where they 
were when we lost sight of ’em.” 

“ Come on,” said Jack suddenly, “we’ll find — ” 

But he ceased speaking suddenly, for the 
rumbling noise stopped, and the thin cloud of 
vapor no longer arose from the hole in the ground, 
around which were piled stones as if in a careless 
heap. 

“ Let’s get out of here,” went on Jack quickly. 
“ They’ve quit work, and they may be out of their 
hole any minute. It would never do to be discov- 
ered now ! ” 

The two boys made their way back to the path 
they had left, and turned toward the river. They 
paused a moment to see if they were followed, but 
there was no sign of any one coming from the 
underground printing plant. 

“ Things are getting worse and worse,” said 
Nat. “ Personified paddy-cakes ! But who 


ii6 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


would have thought we would run into a mystery 
like this when we went camping.” 

“ It sure is a mystery,” agreed Jack, “ and it’s 
up to us to solve it.” 

“ Well, why didn’t you fellows stay all night? ” 
asked Sam, when Jack and Ned got back to where 
they had moored their boat in the river. 

“ That’s all right,” declared Jack. “ Get any 
crabs? ” 

“ A basketful, and we could have had more. 
We were just going to look for you. Thought 
maybe Hemp Smith had carried you off.” 

“ Well, we came near capturing him,” put in 
Nat. 

“ No I Get out ! ” exclaimed Sam. 

“We made a great discovery,” declared Jack. 

“ We sure did,” added Nat. 

“ Aw, quit you’re kidding,” advised Bony. 
“What did you find; a rabbit’s nest or a bear’s 
den ? ” 

“ We found where Hemp Smith and Jonas 
Lavine disappeared to,” answered Jack, and he 
told his two chums what he and Nat had dis^ 
covered. 


CHAPTER XIV 


fathead’s queer pies 

For a few seconds Sam and Bony did not know 
whether their chums were fooling them or not. 
But Jack’s serious face indicated that he was very 
much in earnest. 

“ Where did you spot them? ” asked Bony. 

“ Back there in the woods. They have a cave 
under ground and they’re running a printing of- 
fice.” 

“ A printing office? ” exclaimed Sam. 

“ Yes,” replied Jack and he proceeded to go into 
details. 

“ Let’s go back I ” proposed Sam. “ We four 
are more than a match for them. We’ll find out 
what they’re up to.” 

“ No,” said Jack, and he shook his head. 

“Why not?” demanded Bony. “Are you 
afraid?” 

“ Not much,” retorted Jack quickly. “ I’ve 
put it all over Hemp Smith more than once, and I 

117 


ii8 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

guess you saw me knock out Lavine. Fm not 
afraid.” 

“ Then why don’t you go ? ” 

“ Because I want to think this over a bit. 
There’s some queer game on, and I want to dis- 
cover what it is. If we go slap-dash at it we may 
scare them away, and not find out what’s up. If 
we go slow we can find out what they’re doing.” 

During the row back to camp, the boys talked of 
nothing but the strange discovery. Jack and Nat 
had to go over it again, in all the details, before 
Sam and Bony were satisfied that they had heard it 
all. 

The four chums found Budge in the same atti- 
tude as when they had left early that morning. 
He looked up as they approached the tent, having 
pulled their boats up on the beach. 

“ Jumeet Skidmore? ” he asked, not pausing in 
his gum chewing operations. 

“ No, we didn’t meet Mr. Skidmore,” answered 
Jack. “Why?” 

“ Here’s a telegram he brought,” went on 
Budge, taking his gum out, and speaking dis- 
tinctly, as befitted the importance of the occasion. 

“ A telegram? Who from? ” asked Jack quickly, 
fearing there was bad news at home. 

“ Dunno,” was all Budge said, but by this time 


FATHEAD’S QUEER PIES 119 

our hero, seeing that the envelope the odd lad 
had handed him was addressed to “ Mr. Jack 
Ranger ” had torn it open. 

“ It’s from Pete Ruggles and Aleck Dawes,” 
he announced. “ They can’t come to camp with 
us.” 

“Why not?” asked Nat. 

“ Folks won’t let ’em. That’s too bad. I was 
counting on giving those fellows a good time. 
However, maybe it’s just as well. We’re likely 
to have some strenuous times in the next few days 
if we smoke out Hemp Smith and Company.” 

A strenuous time indeed was in store for Jack. 
He had not the slightest inkling of it, or perhaps he 
would not have been quite so ready to welcome it, 
as he was at this moment, for the thought of an 
encounter with his old enemy gave him a thrill of 
pleasure for the time being. 

“ Well, Budge,” remarked Nat, “ I presume you 
have a meal all ready for us ? ” 

“ Soon’simakeoffee,” was the laconic reply, as 
Budge got up from his restful position, and began 
to bustle about the cook tent. “ Jugitanycrabs ? ” 

“ Lots of ’em,” answered Sam. “ We count 
on a nice crab salad for supper to-night.” 

“ Then we’d better start ’em to boil,” suggested 
Jack. “ We’ll put ’em on in a big kettle over a 


120 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


fire out doors, and all have a hand in it. They’re 
just as good cold boiled, as they are made into a 
salad.” 

“ Nothing like a salad,” declared Sam, who was 
fond of dainty dishes. 

The meal was almost ready, and the boys were 
anxiously waiting for It, as it was some time past 
noon, and they were hungry, when, as they were 
about to dish it up they heard some one approach- 
ing the camp. 

“ Somebody’s coming to dinner,” said Jack, 
“ Maybe It’s Mr. Skidmore, with another tele- 
gram.” 

A moment later the boys beheld emerging from 
the woods that bordered the beach, the unwelcome 
form of Fathead Parson. 

“ Liquified lollypops I ” exclaimed Nat under 
his breath. “ If here isn’t that nuisance again. 
We’ll have to move our camp to get rid of him.” 

“ Leave it to me,” returned Jack In a low voice. 
Then he went on. “ Ah, Archibald, you are just 
in time.” 

“ Please don’t call me Archibald,” pleaded the 
pasty-faced one. “ But you know me now, don’t 
you. Jack? ” 

“ Know you ? Why of course I do. Fathead — 


FATHEAD’S QUEER PIES 


ilZl 


I mean Archie. Why shouldn’t I know youJ 
You have a face not easy to forget.” 

“ But you didn’t know me the other time I was 
here.” 

“ The other time you were here? Why, were 
you here before ? ” 

“ Yes; don’t you remember? When you were 
all asleep and you pretended you didn’t know me.” 

“ Why Fat — Archie, you are talking in 
riddles! You were never here before; was he 
fellows?” 

“Never here before ! ” chorused the three chums, 
with serious faces. 

“ But now that you’re here now, for the first 
time,” went on Jack, “ won’t you stay and have 
lunch with us?” 

Fathead’s pasty face took on more of a shine 
than ever. He was very fond of eating, and his 
aunt, with whom he was spending his vacation, set 
a scanty table. 

“ Of course I’ll stay 1 ” he exclaimed. “ Where 
shall I sit, Jack? ” 

“ First you’ll have to help us a bit. You don’t 
mind doing a bit of work do you? [Very light 
work? ” 

“ No — no,” replied Fathead doubtfully. He 


122 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


was a little dubious now, that he found there was 
some condition attached to his eating. 

“You’re fond of pie; aren’t you, Archie?” 
went on Jack, winking at his chums the eye con- 
cealed from Fathead. 

“ Oh, ain’t I just I Urn ! Pie I I love pie I ” 
and the puffy eyes of the lad closed in gleeful anti- 
cipation. 

“ Then you won’t mind if I ask you to help 
carry some pies up ? ” 

“ I guess not.” 

“ You see those baskets there? ” went on Jack, 
pointing to those containing the crabs, which had 
been left on the beach near the boats. 

“ Sure,” replied Archie. “ Have they got pies 

* 1 o 

in em : 

“ They might have,” answered Jack, which was 
true enough. They might have contained pies, 
only they didn’t. “ Just go down, and grab a 
handful of ’em. They’re fine eating. 

Jack explained afterward that he meant the 
crabs were find eating, a statement borne out by 
abundant testimony. 

Archie, who was very hungry, hastened down 
to where the baskets were. He paused as he 
looked down into them. 

‘‘They’re covered with grass,” he said, for 


FATHEAD’S QUEER PIES 


123 


Sam had spread the green seaweed over the crabs, 
to keep them from being spoiled by the hot sun. 

“ That’s to keep ’em cool,” explained Jack. 
“ Watch out for some fun now, fellows,” he 
warned his chums. “ Just reach in, and grab ’em 
up, grass and all,” he called to Archie. “ Leave 
it on to keep ’em cool.” 

Archie did so. There were several large crabs 
on top of the pile which Sam and Bony had caught, 
and the crustaceans were just in the proper temper 
to resent any further interference with them. No 
sooner had Archie thrust his hands in the basket, 
than every one of his fingers and his two thumbs 
were caught in the grip of the claws of several 
crabs. And the creatures pinched with all their 
power. 

“Oh I Ouch I Help! I’m killed! I’m caught! 
Something has hold of me ! ” yelled Archie, spring- 
ing back, and holding up his hands, from which 
dangled five or six crustaceans. “ Something has 
hold of me! Help! Help! ” cried the too-curious 
lad. 

“ You mean you have hold of something! ” an- 
swered Jack, laughing so that he was hardly able to 
run down the beach. “ Let go of our pet crabs I ” 
he cried. “ What are you bothering with them 
for?” 


124 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“Oh I Oh! Take ’em off! They’ll pinch my 
fingers off ! ” came from Archie, as he danced 
around wildly. 

“ Put ’em down on the sand, and they’ll let go 
fast enough,” advised Jack. 

Archie stooped over, and put his hands, to which 
the crabs were still clinging tightly, down on the 
beach. As soon as the creatures felt some firm 
support beneath them, they released their grip, and 
scurried off. 

“ There goes my crab salad ! ” cried Sam, 
running down the sand, and with two sticks, 
fastened together In the shape of tongs, he began 
catching the crabs and putting them back Into the 
basket. 

Archie was critically examining his fingers, 
which, while badly pinched, were not much in- 
jured. 

“ Queer I should have made that mistake,” said 
Jack solemnly. “ Weren’t there any pies in those 
baskets, Archie? ” 

“No, and you knew It too. Jack Ranger! It 
was a trick, but you wait! I’ll get even with 
you ! ” 

“ Won’t you stay and have some lunch? ” went 
on Nat. “ We are going to cook the crabs soon, 
and you could help. I think well take you along 



“Let go of our pet crabs” 


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FATHEAD’S QUEER PIES 


125 


the next time we go crabbing. They are so fond 
of you that you’d make good bait.” 

“ Hu ! Think you’re smart, don’t you ! ” re- 
torted Archie, and, in his anger, he began to look, 
about for a stone to throw, as that was his favorite 
form of retaliation. But there was only sand on 
the beach. However Nat saw his intention. 

“ Come on, fellows, let’s duck him in the bay! ” 
he cried, but Fathead did not wait. He took to 
his heels, and was soon out of sight in the woods. 

“ There, I guess he’ll keep clear of this camp 
after this, the little nuisance,” remarked Jack. 
“ Come on, fellows, I’m hungry, and grub is 
ready.” 


CHAPTER XV 


THE BOYS INVESTIGATE 

“ Well, now for our investigation of the af- 
fairs of Hemp Smith and his partners in crime,” 
announced Jack as he arose early the next morning. 
“ And, in order to be in good shape for it, I, for 
one, am going to take a dip.” 

He ran from the tent, clad only in his bathing 
suit, and was soon splashing about in the waters of 
the bay, where he was joined by his chums. 

“ Say, but this is sport,” observed Nat, as he 
turned a somersault in the brine. “ Pete and Aleck 
don’t know what they’re missing.” 

“ That’s right,” agreed Sam. “ We’ll go camp- 
ing with you next year. Jack.” 

“ Wait until we see how this season turns out.” 

“Oh, I’m satisfied so far, aren’t you. Bony?” 
asked Sam, of his fellow-guest. 

“ Certain sure. All I want now is Fred Kaler 
to play a nice, restful melody on his mouth organ, 
and I’d be in fairyland all right,” remarked Bony, 
126 


THE BOYS INVESTIGATE 


127 


trying to float, an accomplishment he was not an 
adept at, because of his lack of flesh and fat. 

“ Old Fred,” murmured Jack. “I’ll be glad to 
see him and all the fellows at Washington Hall 
again.” 

“ Then you’re going back? ” asked Sam. 

“ I guess so. Haven’t made my plans much 
further ahead than to-day, though. If we smoke 
out Hemp Smith ” 

“ Grub’s ready,” sang out Budge from the cook- 
ing tent, and there wa's a scramble on the part of 
the boys to see who would be first at table. They 
sat down with rosy cheeks, aglow with health, and 
all possessing enormous appetites. 

“ Well, the sooner we start the quicker we’ll be 
there,” remarked Jack, when Budge started to clear 
away the breakfast things. “ We’ll take plenty of 
grub along, and then we can stay until dark. 
Don’t worry about us. Budge.” 

“ Guessyukinmanageawright,” spoke Budge in 
one mouthful, as he calmly went on masticating his 
gum. 

The boys ran the boats down to the water, and, 
armed only with lunch baskets, they started to row 
for the river, up which they would have to proceed 
for some distance before they would come to the 


128 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


spot where they could strike off into the woods, to 
the spot where the cave was located. 

“ Now, we might as well have some order about 
this expedition,” said Jack, when they had left the 
boats, and started on the tramp through the woods. 

“ All right. General Hardtack, what do you pro- 
pose? ” asked Sam with a grin. 

“ Well, I was going to say that Nat and I had 
better go in advance, as we know the way best. 
You and Bony can follow us, and, when we get 
near the cave, if Nat and I don’t see any signs of 
danger, we can signal you to advance.” 

“ That’s a good idea,” declared Bony. “ Go 
ahead. Jack. We’ll follow within seeing distance.” 

“ And don’t make any more noise than you can. 
help,” advised Nat. “ Sounds carry a long dis- 
tance in the woods.” 

They advanced cautiously, Nat and Jack in the 
lead, until they came to a spot whence they could 
view the pile of stones that concealed the chimney 
of the cave. 

“ Take it easy now,” whispered Jack to Nat. 
“ They may be on the lookout.” 

But a cautious reconnoiter did not disclose any- 
one about the cave, nor was there any sign of the 
vapor coming from the gasolene engine. 

“Shall we signal for Sam and Bony?” asked 


THE BOYS INVESTIGATE 129 

Nat. “ They’re just behind that big button-ball 
tree.” 

“ Wait a second,” advised Jack, and it was well 
that he did so, for, hardly had he spoken, than 
from the center of a big, dead stump, not a hun- 
dred feet from where the boys were, a man’s red 
head was thrust up. 

Jack had just time to duck down behind a log, 
and pull Nat with him, when the man looked in 
their direction. 

“The red-headed man!” whispered Jack. 
“ He’s here with them. The mystery is growing 
deeper.” 

Nat only nodded. It was too risky to whisper 
much. The man, who looked like some grotesque 
jack-in-the-box, peering as he was from the middle 
of the stump, looked about in all directions. Then, 
as if satisfied that there was no danger, he with- 
drew his head, disappearing from view. 

“ That’s how they got out of sight so quickly,” 
whispered Jack. “ They went down the hollow 
stump. That must be an entrance to the cave.” 

“ That’s right,” agreed Nat. “ What’ll we do 
now? ” 

“ Wait a bit, and see what happens.” 

They did not have long to wait. In a few min- 
utes they heard the rumbling of the earth, and saw 


130 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

the vapor rising from the pile of stones. At the 
same time they smelled burning gasolene. 

“ They’ve started up the plant,” said Jack, ven- 
turing now to speak a little above a whisper. “ I 
guess we can go closer and look about.” 

“ Shall I signal Bony and Sam to come up ? ” 

“ Might as well. Smith and Lavine will prob- 
ably be so busy now they won’t be on the lookout.” 

Sam and his chum, approaching cautiously, 
joined Jack and Nat, and were told of the sit- 
uation. 

“ Let’s go and investigate the tree stump,” pro- 
posed Sam. 

“ No,” said Jack. “ They might just take a no- 
tion to look out when we least expected it.” 

“ What are you going to do, then? ” 

“ We’ll fetch a big circle, and come up on either 
side of the stump. If that’s a cave big enough to 
run a printing plant in, it’s probably got more than 
one entrance. We may find another, or a place 
where we can look in. Nat and I will go off to the 
right, and you can take the left. Then, if they 
spot one party, the other may be able to discover 
something, anyway.” 

Jack’s plan was voted a good one, and the boys, 
agreeing to meet back where the boats were moored 


THE BOYS INVESTIGATE 131 

on the river’s bank, at noon time, in case they did 
not join before, started off. 

Jack and Nat fetched a long curve, and, in 
about half an hour had come to a point in line with 
the hollow stump, but some distance in front of it. 
There they halted and looked cautiously about 
them. 

“ See anything? ” asked Jack. 

“No. Do you?” 

“ Nope, and I don’t hear anything. Wonder 
where Sam and Bony are? ” 

“ Oh, they can look out for themselves. Hold 
on, though, what’s that?” 

“ It’s the press starting up again I ” exclaimed 
Jack. “ They must have stopped it, and started 
it again. It sounds plainer here, too.” 

“ So it does,” admitted Nat. “ There must be 
an entrance near here. Maybe that stump where 
the red-haired man stuck up his head was only a 
lookout place.” 

“ Guess it was. Let’s go a little closer.” 

They advanced, treading softly, and suddenly 
came to a halt, for they heard a voice speaking, 
almost at their side. And the voice was that of 
Hemp Smith. They knew it well, and they started 
as they heard Jack’s enemy ask: 


132 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Shall I throw ’em out? ” 

“ Yes, toss ’em out of the hole,” replied some 
one, whom Jack at once decided was La vine. 
“ They’re spoiled. We’ll have to print some 
more. 

“ Somebody may find ’em,” objected Hemp. 

“ Guess not. Nobody’s in these woods.” 

“ Those fellows at Ranger’s camp may take a 
notion to come here.” 

“ No danger. We’re too well hid. Throw 
’em out, and to-night we’ll burn ’em up.” 

The sound of voices, coming from persons whom 
neither Jack nor Nat could see, look about as they 
did, was sufficiently startling, but the lads were 
more surprised when there suddenly showered 
down on them hundreds of pieces of paper, like 
stage snow. They looked up quickly, to notice 
that the scraps were coming from what was ap- 
parently a rock jutting out from the side of a little 
hill, at the foot of which they stood. 

“ That’s an opening to the cave,” whispered 
Jack. 

“ Sure,” agreed Nat. “ But what sort of stuff 
are they printing? ” and he stooped to pick up 
some of the scraps of paper, that had now ceased 
falling. 


THE BOYS INVESTIGATE 


133 


Jack also reached for some. He looked at the 
fragments and then gave vent to an exclamation 
of surprise. 

“ iThis explains it! ’’ he said. 


CHAPTER XVI 


CAPTURED 

Nat gazed queerly at his chum. 

“ Explains what? ” he said. 

“ The stuff they’re printing. Look, these are 
parts of stock certificates and railroad bonds.” 

“ Stocks and railroad bonds? ” 

“ Hush ! Not so loud. They may hear us. 
Yes, that’s what they are.” 

“ But there’s no need to do that underground. 
It’s no crime to print them.” 

“ I guess it is — the kind these fellows arc 
printing,” replied Jack. “ They’re probably bo- 
gus. Lavine is a stock swindler and promoter, 
my father told me.” 

“Well, we’ve discovered them all right,” 
commented Nat. “ Now what’s to be done ? ” 

“ That’s the question. I wish dad was here to 
advise me. I don’t really know what to do. 
Probably Lavine is getting ready to work some 
big cheating game, and he wants the stocks and 
bonds printed secretly. Or maybe he does this 

134 


CAPTURED 


135 


work for a lot of other swindlers. In either case 
the authorities ought to know about it.” 

“ That’s right,” agreed Nat. “ What’s matter 
with telling Mr. Skidmore? He’ll know who arc 
the best persons to tell.” 

“ Good Idea. I believe we’ll do that. But first 
let’s see if we can’t get a look Inside that cave. 
I’d like to ‘know how the land lays before we give 
information.” 

“ Isn’t there any way of getting up to that hole 
where they threw out the papers?” asked Nat. 

“ Maybe. We’ll try it. It’s a pretty steep hill, 
but I guess we can do It. Now mind, no talking 
after we get started, and don’t make any noise. 
The slope is grassy, and we ought to be able to 
get there without making a sound. Then, maybe, 
we can look right in and see ’em at work. Evi- 
dently they don’t suspect anything, or they 
wouldn’t throw the pieces out that way, and talk 
so loudly. Come on, now. Put some of these 
pieces In your pocket for evidence. We’ll leave 
most of ’em on the ground, in case they come to 
look for ’em to burn ’em up.” 

The boys looked with critical eyes at the sloping 
hill which lay before them. They had undertaken 
much more difficult feats than scaling It, but never 
under such circumstances. If they were discov- 


136 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


ered when half way up, they would be in a pre- 
carious position. But this did not deter them. 

They began their climb. Up and up they went, 
bending almost double to preserve their equili- 
brium, and digging their hands and feet into the 
grassy soil to prevent slipping. When they were 
half way to the rocky ledge they paused to rest. 
They could sec no opening in the side of the hill, 
as the stone jutted out so that it hid whatever 
aperture there was. But the boys knew one must 
be there. 

With a silent motion Jack signalled his chum 
to proceed. They resumed their climb. In a 
short time they were near enough to the rocky 
ledge so that they could grasp the edge of it. 
They found there was a sort of hollo wed-out place 
in the side of the hill, where they could rest their 
feet. 

“ I’ll go first,” whispered Jack, his lips close 
to Nat’s ear. “ You follow.” 

Nat nodded. Jack slowly began to pull himself 
up to the ledge, as an athlete chins himself on the 
bar. Jack was an adept at this. In a few mo>- 
ments he was able to get his elbows over the edge, 
and then it was an easy matter to scramble up. 
Fortunately the ledge was wide enough to offer a 
narrow resting place. 


CAPTURED 


137 


Nat began to pull himself up, but he was not 
as strong or as skillful at this as Jack had been, 
and his chum was obliged to help him. A moment 
later, however, Nat too, was on the ledge. What 
they saw filled the two lads with astonishment. 

They found that the ledge was a sort of natural 
window sill, and that through- the opening thus 
reached, they could look right into a large cave. 
And they could see plainly, for several brilliant 
lamps, hung here and there, gave sufficient illu- 
mination. 

The beams did not show from the outside in 
the day time, and at night they were doubtless 
hidden by closing all openings. But it was not 
the lighted cave which attracted the attention of 
the boys, so much as did the persons and things 
that were in it. 

For as they looked they saw several men busy 
about some small printing presses, that were oper- 
ated by a compact gasolene engine that stood in 
one corner. Near the center of the cave was a 
spot of light, different from that cast by the lamps, 
and a ladder near it at once told the boys what 
it was. This was the place where the hollow 
stump reached up to the surface, and through 
which the red-headed man had taken an obser- 
vation. 


138 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ WeVe discovered ’em! ” whispered Nat. 

Jack nodded. 

“ But where’s the red-headed man? ” went on 
his chum. “ I can see Hemp,” and he pointed to 
a figure bending over one of the presses. 

“ Yes, and there’s Lavine,” added Jack, indi- 
cating a man examining some sheets of printed 
paper, by the light of a large lamp. So intent 
were the men on what they were doing, that they 
were not aware of being spied upon. Fortunately 
for the boys, at least for the time being, the hole 
through which they were gazing was some dis- 
tance away from the center of the cave, where 
the men stood. 

“ The red-headed man isn’t here,” said Jack. 
“ Maybe he’s on the outside looking around. If 
be is he may spot us, or Sam and Bony.” 

The boys looked anxiously around the cave, for 
a sight of the red-haired man, but he was not in 
sight. In all there were five men in the place, 
including Hemp and Lavine. They were very 
busy, one attending to the engine, another to the 
presses, while Lavine and Hemp stopped from 
time to time to examine the things being printed, 
which the boys judged to be more counterfeit stocks 
and bonds. 

“ Well, we can’t do anything here,” whispered 


CAPITTRED 


139 


Nat. “ Let’s get down, find Sam and Bony, and 
then notify Mr. Skidmore. We can catch these 
fellows in the act.” 

Jack nodded. He took one more look into the 
cave, and then prepared to get down off the ledge, 
which was a more difficult task than getting up. 

He put his legs over the ledge, and was just 
about to slide off, when a surprising thing hap- 
pened. There was a rumbling and trembling of 
the earth, the rock on which the boys were seemed 
to give way, and, the next instant they felt them- 
selves falling. 

Down they went, but not down the hillside, 
from which tumble they would have suffered com- 
paratively little harm, but in the opposite direc- 
tion. Backward they toppled, right into the cave 
itself, for the natural window ledge had given way 
with them, and cast them into the midst of the 
men at their mysterious operations. 

At first the boys were too much shaken up, too 
blinded by the dust and fragments of rock, and 
too frightened to realize what had happened. 
They were dimly conscious of startled shouts, and 
a rush of feet. 

When the dust cleared away, and the boys could, 
from the mass of debris in which they were, look 
about them, they saw that they were surrounded 


140 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


by the five men, who, to tell the truth, were almost 
as much startled as were their unexpected visitors. 

“ What does this mean I Who are you ? What 
right — ” began Lavine in blustering tones. 

Jack saw Hemp Smith step up to the man and 
whisper something. 

“Ranger, eh?” replied Lavine. “And his 
chum I They’ve been spying on us! But we’ve 
caught them I Nick and Sid, close the window I ” 

“ You can’t,” answered one of the men. “ The 
slide’s busted.” 

Involuntarily Jack glanced up. He saw that 
a wooden slide had been used to close up the win- 
dow through which he and Nat had tumbled, 
but their fall had disarranged it. 

Then take ’em to the inner cave ! ” ordered 
Lavine. “ We’ll teach them to spy on us I ” 

Jack arose, followed by Nat. They brushed 
the dust from their garments, and were glad to 
find that they were not injured beyond a severe 
shaking-up. 

“How are you, Mr. Hemp Smith?” asked 
Jack coolly, as he gazed at his former enemy. 
“ I guess you didn’t expect to see me here I ” 

Hemp muttered something below his breath. 
Then, seeming to think of something, he suddenly 


CAPTURED 


141 

pulled a red wig from his pocket and put it on his 
head. 

“ The red-haired man ! ” exclaimed Nat. 

That much of the mystery was solved, at any 
rate. Hemp had worn the wig as a disguise. 
The boys had thus seen him before they had been 
aware of it, for they remembered the man who 
appeared in the meadow the time the motor boat 
had exploded. 

Hemp did not reply. He ran to the ladder, 
which stood under where the hollow stump gave 
a view from the cave, and mounted upward. He 
came back in a few moments. 

“ All’s clear,” he announced to Lavine. 

Meanwhile Jack and Nat had been looking 
about them. With a natural instinct to escape 
from the underground place. Jack began edging 
over toward the window through which he had 
tumbled. The opening was now much larger. 

“Nick — Sid! ” exclaimed Lavine, with a nod 
toward the opening, and the men placed them- 
selves between the boys and the only visible way 
of escape. “ Now you’re here, I guess you’ll stay 
for a while,” added Lavine with a sneering laugh. 
“ We didn’t invite you, and you’re not wanted, and 
you’ll have to take the penalty for spying on us.” 


142 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Do you mean that you’re going to keep us 
here? ” asked Jack boldly. 

“ That’s just what I mean, Jack Ranger. 
You’ve poked your head Into the lion’s mouth, 
and you’ve got to take the consequences.” 

Jack laughed, but he was far from feeling as 
confident as he seemed. 

“ I guess you’ll find It rather hard to hold us 
here, if we don’t want to stay,” he said. 

“ Oh, I guess not,” retorted Lavine, easily. 

“ We have friends outside,” added Nat. 
“ They’ll be looking for us in a little while, and 
they’ll have the police down on you before night.” 

“ First they’ve got to find us,” replied Lavine. 

“ They’ll do that easily enough,” answered Jack. 
“ They know where the hollow stump Is. They 
saw Hemp Smith was looking from it, with his red 
wig on.” 

Hemp uttered an exclamation of dismay. 

“ I think we can manage to fool them,” went 
on Lavine. “ Lonny,” he added to one of the 
three men, “ just plug up the hollow stump, and 
lower it down.” 

“To the surprise of Jack and Nat, they saw 
that the stump could be raised and lowered, and, 
as they watched, they saw It pulled down Into the 


CAPTURED 


M3 


cave, so that from outside it was probably flush 
with the ground. At the same time the man called 
Lonny slid a board into a slot in the side, thus 
cutting off any view from the top. 

“ There, let your friends find us now, if they 
can,” said Hemp. 

“ They’ll do it easily enough,” replied Jack. 

While this was going on he had not been idle. 
He had slowly been edging toward the window 
through which he had fallen, and, by gently pull- 
ing on Nat’s coat, had given him a hint of what he 
was about to do. 

“ Make a dash for it I ” whispered Jack to Nat, 
when he saw that the attention of the men was on 
what Lonny was doing to the hollow stump. 

The two boys made a sudden spring, hoping to 
escape, but Lavine was too quick for them. With 
one blow he knocked Nat down, stunning him, and 
Nick aimed a blow at Jack, but our hero cleverly 
dodged it, and struck back. But he could not 
guard himself in the back, and Sid, sneaking 
around behind, tripped him. 

“ The ropes. Hemp ! We’ll tie these lads so 
they can’t make any more trouble for us I ” ex- 
claimed Lavine. 

Jack struggled desperately to escape from the 


144 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


grip of Nick and Sid, but it was no use. The men 
were too strong for him. A moment later he and 
Nat, who was beginning to recover his senses, were 
securely tied, and were carried to the rear part of 
the cave. 


CHAPTER XVII 


THE PLOTTERS PLAN 

Jack felt that it would be of little avail to 
struggle. He was too securely held and bound 
for that, but he made up his mind he would escape 
the first chance he got. 

“ Poor Nat,’* he mused as he felt himself being 
carried along, he knew not whither. “ I’ll give 
it to Hemp and Lavine good and proper when I 
get a chance, to make up for what they did to you,” 
and he was boiling inwardly with rage at his own 
helplessness. 

“ Right this way with ’em,” he heard Lavine 
saying, and then the partly illuminated cave gave 
place to intense darkness. The two boys had been 
carried into a sort of inner cavern. 

“ What’ll we do with ’em? ” Jack heard Hemp 
Smith ask. 

“ We’ll leave ’em here for the present,” Lavine 
responded, “ and then we’ll consider what to do. 
We’ve got to make some move. I guess this end 
of the game’s up.” 


145 


I 


146 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ It will be if I get out of here, and have any- 
thing to say,” thought Jack. 

He was deposited on the bare ground, none too 
gently, and a voice asked: 

“ Shall we take off the ropes? ” 

“ Not much,” answered Lavine. “ They’re too 
slippery customers for that; eh, Hemp.” 

“ Not that name,” came from Jack’s old enemy 
quickly. 

“ Oh, I forgot, you’re supposed to be Colonel 
Livermore, aren’t you?” went on Lavine with a 
short laugh. “ But it’s no use keeping that up any 
longer. We’ll have to clear out of here. But 
come outside. I want to have a talk with you.” 

Jack could hear the men leaving, and a door 
closed after them, but it was too dark for him 
to distinguish anything. A movement from Nat 
attracted his attention. 

“ How are you, Nat? ” he called softly, trying 
to roll over closer to his chum, but desisting as he 
happened to think he might tumble down some 
hole in the darkness. 

“ Well, I don’t exactly know myself,” replied 
Nat slowly. “ What happened? Where are we? 
I seem to remember a cave-in.” 

“ One of the scoundrels knocked you down. 
Does your head hurt much ? ” 


THE PLOTTERS PLAN 14! 

“ Not so very, but I feel rather dizzy. Where 
are we? ” 

“ In some sort of a small cave, inside the big 
one I think. They carried us here and left 
us.” 

“ Can’t we get away? ” 

** I don’t see how. I’m all tied up with ropes.*' 

“ So am I. Can you wiggle loose? ” 

“ I’m going to try,” replied Jack. He strained 
at his bonds, but with no effect. The men had 
done their dastardly work thoroughly. 

“ I wonder how long they’re going to leave us 
here ? ” mused Nat. “ My head aches fit to split, 
now.” 

“ It’s tough,” agreed Jack, “ but I’m not going 
to beg them to let us out.” 

“ Me either,” added his chum quickly. “ I’ll 
never let them know we’re worried,” he said 
grimly. 

For a few moments the boys were silent, turn- 
ing over in their minds some plan of escape, and 
hoping that either Budge or Sam and Bony, would, 
in some manner, discover their plight, and come 
to their aid. 

Suddenly the silence that had been maintained 
for some time was broken and the boys heard men 
speaking. They easily determined that Lavine 


148 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


and Hemp Smith were conversing somewhere near 
them. 

“ Listen to what they say/’ whispered Jack. 
“ We may hear something that will give us a tip 
on how to get out.” 

The men’s voices sounded plainer now, and the 
boys decided that their captors were outside in the 
main cave, close to the dividing wall of their 
prison, in which there must have been some open- 
ing to allow the sound to penetrate. 

“ Well, we’ve got ’em, but what are we going 
to do with ’em?” they heard Hemp Smith ask 
Lavine. 

“ I’ll keep them prisoners until I think it’s safe 
to let them go,” replied the rascally promoter. 

“ When will that be? ” 

“ I don’t know.” 

“ But it’s risky to keep them here.” 

“ I know it is, but what can I do? It’s risky 
to let ’em go. We’ve got to move the plant, 
that’s sure. We could shift it in a week or two, 
further down the river. I know of another 
cave — ” 

“ Not so loud,” cautioned Hemp. “ They 
might hear.’^ 

“ It won’t do them any good if they da We’ll 
take good care they don’t find the next place. But 


THE PLOTTERS PLAN 


149 


i want to get that batch of bonds printed. That 
scheme must go through this week. After 
that—” 

“ La vine seemed to hesitate. 

“ Well, after that? ” asked Hemp suggestively. 

“ We’ll decide what to do with the boys. I’ve 
got a plan in mind which I think will take them 
out of the way for a good while, and then we can 
do as we please.” 

“What is it?” 

Just then, either the men shifted their position 
away from the opening through which the sound 
of their voices came, or else they spoke in lower 
tones, for, listen as Jack and Nat did, all they 
could hear was this fragment of a sentence : 

“ — aboard the Polly Ann, and then Reeger 
will look after them.” 

It was Lavine who spoke, and after that there 
was silence. 

“ Did you hear that. Jack? ” asked Nat. 

“ Yes. What do you make of it? ” 

“ The Polly Ann must be some kind of a boat or 
ship. I wonder if they’re going to take us away 
somewhere ? ” 

“ It begins to look that way,” admitted Jack 
gravely. “ Lm afraid we’re up against it, Nat.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


ALARM IN CAMP 

When Sam and Bony left Jack and Nat, and 
started to circle through the woods, to see what 
they could discover in the way of an approach to 
the cave, they advanced cautiously keeping a look- 
out in every direction. 

“ I’d like to spot that red-headed man,” re- 
marked Bony. “ I think I’d capture him, just for 
fun.” 

“ No, don’t do anything like that,” advised 
Sam. “ Jack wants matters kept quiet until he 
finds out what’s up. “ We’ve got to do some spy 
work for a while yet.” 

“ All right, I’m willing. But say, I wish they 
had a sidewalk through these woods. This rough 
walking hurts my feet.” 

“ What you need is some fat on your bones, ” 
replied Sam, with a grin. 

The boys walked on until they judged they had 
reached a place where they ought to get a view of 
the approach to the cave, in case one existed at 
150 


ALARM IN CAMP 


151 

that end. But they saw nothing that gave them 
any encouragement. 

“ Let’s work back a way,” suggested Bony. 
“ There’s nothing doing around here.” 

They retraced their steps, hut the more they 
wandered about the more confused they became, 
for the woods was quite dense in that locality. 

“ Oh, I’m going back where we started from ! ” 
exclaimed Sam at length. “ There’s no good 
tramping around here. If there’s any entrance 
Jack’s found it by this time, or else he’s back at the 
place where we agreed to meet.” 

“ Before we go back to the boats,” said Bony, 
“ let’s take another look at the stump. Maybe 
Jack’s there.” 

“ All right,” agreed Sam. “ Come on.” 

They soon reached the place where they had ob- 
served the red-haired man poking his head up 
from the natural watch tower. 

“ That’s queer,” remarked Sam, as he peered 
about him. 

“What is?” 

“ The stump’s gone.” 

“ We haven’t got to the place yet,” declared 
Bony. 

“Yes, we have. There’s the button-ball tree 


152 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

where we were hiding just before we saw Mn 
Red-head.” 

“ That’s right,” Bony had to acknowledge. 

“ But the stump’s gone,” went on Sam. “ It 
stood right near that big rock.” 

“ Let’s go over and take a closer look,” pro- 
posed Bony. 

Cautiously the boys approached. There was 
no doubt about it, the stump had gone, for, by this 
time Jack and Nat had made their sensational 
entrance into the cave, and Hemp Smith had 
lowered the observation tower. 

“ Well, this is certainly a funny go,” observed 
Sam, scratching his head in perplexity. 

“ It sure is,” agreed Bony. “ The stump was 
certainly here and now it’s gone. Let’s look for 
the stone chimney.” 

But that too had been removed, and there was 
no evidence to show where it had been, though, as 
they afterwards learned, a big flat stone which they 
saw covered the hole in the ground, only they 
never thought of raising it. 

“ Well, it’s back to the boats for ours,” said 
Sam, after looking about a bit longer. “ Prob- 
ably Jack and Nat are there now, waiting for us.” 

But they were not, as we know, and after a long 


ALARM IN CAMP 


153 


and rather anxious wait, the two chums decided to 
eat some of the lunch they had brought along. 

“ Queer they don’t come,” remarked Sam, 
after two hours or more had passed. 

“ That’s what ! I wonder what we’d better 
do?” 

“ Can’t do anything but wait, I suppose.” 

“ Maybe they’re lost in the woods.” 

“Not very likely. Jack can find his way almost 
an)rwhere. They’ll turn up all right.” 

But when it grew dark, and his chums had not 
returned, Sam was forced to admit that there 
might be a possibility that Jack and Nat were lost. 

“ Then let’s hunt for ’em,” proposed Bony. 

“ It’s too dark for that now. The only thing 
we can do is to go back to camp and wait for them. 
Budge will be worried if all of us stay away.” 

“ I don’t believe Budge would worry over any- 
thing, but I guess we had better go back. Shall 
we leave Jack’s boat here? ” 

“ Sure. He and Nat might get back here at 
midnight and it’s too far to walk to camp.” 

It was with no very light or cheerful hearts that 
Sam and Bony rowed back to where the tent was 
erected on the beach. Budge, was down to the 
water’s edge, peering about in the hope of some 
sight of the chums. 


154 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Juhaveanicetime ? ” he asked. 

“ Nice nothing ! ” exclaimed Sam in disgust. 
“ This business of hunting up conspirators who 
have an underground printing plant may be all 
right in stories, but it’s too strenuous in real life.” 

The night passed, and there was no sign of Jack 
and Nat, for they were still prisoners in the cave. 
In the morning Sam was more worried than he 
cared to admit. So were Bony and Budge, only 
they spoke freely of it. 

“ We’d better go back where we left the boat,” 
proposed Bony. “ We’ve got to get some trace of 
em. 

Sam agreed, and, leaving Budge again In charge 
of camp, for they had many possessions there which 
they did not want stolen, Sam and Bony rowed up 
the river again. They found the boat undisturbed 
where they had left it, and, tying their own craft, 
they made another search through the woods. 
But they found no trace of the missing ones. 

“ We’d better get word to the police authori- 
ties,” said Sam, when they were back at the boats. 

“ I don’t believe they have any police out here.” 

“ Well, they must have constables or some kind 
of officers. I’m afraid something has happened to 
Jack and Nat.” 


ALARM IN CAMP 


155 


“ Suppose we tell Mr. Skidmore ? He ought to 
know what to do.” 

“ All right, I will. Come on back to camp. 
Might as well take both boats, too. Jack won’t 
come here now, if he does start back for camp.” 

“ Where will he go ? ” 

“ Blessed if I know. It’s a puzzle. The 
sooner we get help to solve it the better. Come 
on.” 

Each one rowing a boat, Sam and Bony made 
their way back to camp, where, telling Budge of 
their object, they set off for Sickonsonnett to in- 
form Mr. Skidmore, and ask his advice. 

They found Jack’s friend in his general store, 
for he was the proprietor of a grocery and dry- 
goods “ Emporium,” as a sign over the front 
door announced. 

“ I was just going out to your place,” said the 
man. “I’ve got a message for one of you boys, 
but this will save me the trouble. It just come.” 

“ Who’s it for? ” asked Sam. 

“ For you. Here it is.” 

“Maybe it’s from Jack,” said Bony hopefully. 
Sam tore it open. Then his face became pale. 

“ My father is very ill,” he said. “ I have to 
go home at once ! ” 


156 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ But what about Jack? ” asked Bony. 

“ You’ll have to stay and help hunt him. You 
and Budge. I must leave camp right away. Poor 
dad!” 

“ Trouble? ” asked Mr. Skidmore sympathetic- 
ally. “Can I help?” 

Sam quickly told the story of Jack’s and Nat’s 
absence. 

“ I’ll get things started right away for a 
search,” declared the store keeper. “ Now don’t 
you worry. You can go home, Mr. Chalmers. 
Your chum and me’ll find Jack Ranger. I’ve got 
a great admiration for that lad.” 

“ So have I,” declared Sam. “ I wish I could 
stay, and help find him, but I don’t see how I can.” 

“ No, of course not. You go home to your 
father,” answered Bony. “ We’ll find Jack and 
Nat.” 

Sam had to go back to camp for his things, and 
he explained to Budge the necessity for leaving. 

“ Sallright,” said Budge calmly. “ We’ll find 
Jack,” and, to better bear up under the stress of 
the occasion, he indulged in a double ration of 
chewing gum. 

Meanwhile Mr. Skidmore was getting ready to 
organize a posse, in charge of several county con- 
stables, to hunt for the missing lads. It was not 


ALARM IN CAMP 


157 


uncommon, he had told Bony and Sam, just prior 
to their return to camp, for persons to be lost in the 
woods, but there was practically no danger. 

“ There is when that Hemp Smith is around,” 
declared Sam. 

“ Well, we’ll organize a good force and arrest 
him,” promised Mr. Skidmore. 


CHAPTER XIX 


ABOARD THE POLLY ANN 

Say, Jack,” remarked Nat, after a pause, dur- 
ing which they had waited in silence in the cave, 
hoping to hear more talk, “ I’m hungry, ain’t 
you ? ” 

“ I’m too mad to be hungry,” replied Jack. 
“ I’d just like to be free, and outside with Hemp 
Smith or La vine for a few minutes. Yes, I’d 
tackle ’em both, and I believe I could do ’em up.” 

“ I believe you could, and I’d help,” said Nat, 
for Jack was a powerful lad, and was always in 
fighting trim, because of his athletic activity. 

“ But it’s no use wishing I suppose,” went on 
our hero, “ and now, since you’ve mentioned it, I 
do feel as if I could eat a bit.” 

“Withering whangdoodles ! A bit? I could 
eat half a dozen bits ! Think of all the good stuff 
back in camp, and here we are ! ” 

“ They can’t be going to starve us,” remarked 
Jack. “ They will have to give us something to 
eat before very long, or I’ll raise such a rumpus 
158 


ABOARD THE POLLY ANN 


159 


that they’ll be glad to feed me to keep me quiet.” 

“ That’s a good idea. Let’s yell now.*^ 

“ All right. Go ahead.” 

Thereupon Jack and Nat set up such a lusty 
concert that it brought Lavine and Hemp Smith 
to their dungeon on the run. 

“ Here ! What’s the matter with you fel- 
lows? ” angrily demanded Lavine. 

“ We’re hungry,” replied Jack boldly. “ If we 
don’t get something to eat pretty soon, we’ll yell 
?mtil we do. Our friends will hear us, too.” 

“ No danger of that. You’re too far under 
ground,” said the promoter, but he did not seem 
altogether easy, as the boys could observe by the 
light of a lantern Hemp Smith carried. “ How- 
ever, we’ll feed you,” went on Lavine. “We 
don’t intend to treat you any harsher than we can 
help. You interfered with our business and you’ll 
have to take the consequences. All we want to do 
is to keep you out of the way until — well, until we 
get ready to let you go.” 

“ And that had better be pretty soon,” spoke 
Jack. 

“ It’ll be when I get good and ready,” was 
Lavine’s retort. “ Now if you yell again we shall 
have to gag you, and I don’t want to do that.” 

“ Then feed us,” insisted Nat. 


i6o JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ All right, you shall have something to eat, but 
don’t you yell again.” 

“ He’s afraid of us,” whispered Nat to Jack, 
when Lavine and Hemp had gone out, taking the 
lantern with them. “ He’s afraid some one wiU 
hear us. Shall we yell some more? ” 

“ No, he may carry out his threat, and gag us. 
I shouldn’t like that.” 

“Me either. Well, we’ll lay low for a while, 
but I wish they’d hurry up with that grub.” 

A little later the door of their prison was opened, 
and the men whom Lavine had addressed as Nick 
and Lonny came in. One of them carried a 
lantern, and the other some plates of food and a 
pitcher of water. 

“Now if you fellows cut up any capers it’ll be 
the worse for you,” spoke Nick, with more of a 
growl than a voice. “ We’re going to untie you, 
while you eat, but we’ll stand on guard.” 

The boys were hungry enough to enjoy even the 
coarse food provided by their captors. When 
they had finished, Nick Insisted on tying them up 
again. 

“ You’re too risky to let loose,” he said. “ I 
admire your spunk, but I’ve go to do It.” 

Jack and Nat did not answer. They felt better 
now that they had eaten and when they were bound 


ABOARD THE POLLY ANN i6i 

again, and left in sitting positions, on a pile of 
bags which Nick brought into their dungeon, they 
did not feel quite so badly. 

“ Well, Jack, do you think we’ll get out of 
here? ” asked Nat, when he and his chum had sat 
for quite a while in the darkness. 

“ Maybe not right away, but there’s got to be a 
change soon. They can’t keep us here. They 
know they’re likely to be discovered, and I think 
there’ll be a move soon. Probably they’ll take us 
on the Polly Ann, whatever that is” 

“ I wonder what’s happened to Sam and 
Bony?” 

“ Hard to tell. I suppose they are wondering 
where we are. And Budge, — maybe he’s waiting 
back there in camp all alone.” 

“ That’s where I wish I was.” 

“ Don’t get discouraged,” advised Jack. 
“ We’ll come out all right. I’ll get ahead of these 
fellows yet, smart as they think they are.” 

Hours passed. Jack and Nat lost all track of 
time, as they were in complete darkness, but they 
knew night must be approaching, for it was long 
past dinner time, and they were beginning to be 
hungry again. 

They could hear movements outside their dun- 
geon, and concluded that the gang, of which Hemp 


i 62 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Smith and Jonas Lavine were the heads, was 
planning a move. Machinery was being shifted 
about they knew, by the sound of clanking metal. 

“ They’re changing the plant,” said Nat. 
“ Probably shifting it to another place.” 

“ Yes, and probably they’ll be shifting us soon,’^ 
added Jack. “ Well, an ocean cruise won’t be so 
bad.” 

“ What makes you think they’ll take us on an 
ocean cruise. Jack? ” 

“ Where else can they take us, if they put us 
aboard the Polly Ann? She’s got to go out to sea. 
She can’t go up the river very far.” 

“ Do you think they’ll take us aboard a ship? ” 

“ It’s hard to say, Nat. We’ll have to wait and 
find out.” 

They did not have much longer to wait. It 
must have been early in the night, after the boys 
had been given a hasty supper, that Hemp Smith, 
Lavine and Nick entered their dungeon. 

“ Well, you’re going to move,” spoke Lavine. 

“ Anything to get out of this hole,” replied 
Jack, who, through all that trying time, had kept 
up his good spirits. 

“ Humph ! Maybe you won’t like your new 
quarters any too well.” 


ABOARD THE POLLY ANN 163 


“ I guess the Polly Ann will suit us,” remarked 
Jack quietly. 

“ The Polly Ann! What do you know about 
her?” asked Lavine quickly. 

“ Perhaps more than you think,” retorted Jack. 

Lavine seemed about to reply, but Hemp Smith 
whispered something to him, and he evidently 
thought better of it. 

“ We’re going to shift you boys,” he said, “ and 
if you promise to behave we’ll take the ropes off.” 

“ All right,” agreed Jack, thinking he might 
better make a virtue of necessity. 

Accordingly their bonds were again loosened, 
and they were led from the cave. Whither they 
went they could not tell, as the only light was a 
lantern carried by Hemp Smith, while Lavine and 
his three men walked beside the boys. But Jack 
decided that they were being taken out of the cave, 
an idea that was confirmed a little later, when he 
smelled the fresh, cool air of the woods. 

But they were not allowed to enjoy this long. 
Hardly had they stepped from the cave than they 
were thrust into what seemed a closed carriage, 
but a puffing and throbbing, a moment later, told 
them that it was an automobile. 

In the dark interior of the covered car, with 


i 64 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Lavine and Nick on either side of them, crowded 
in the somewhat narrow seat, Nat and Jack felt 
themselves being rapidly carried over rough 
ground. The car careened on, swaying and jolt- 
ing, and, after about an hour’s ride, made in 
complete silence as far as any talking was con- 
cerned, the auto came to a stop. 

“We get out here,” said Lavine. 

Dimly wondering where they were being taken, 
but seeing no chance of escape. Jack and Nat fol- 
lowed. They were led across a stretch of ground, 
and, a few seconds later they saw before them, in 
the darkness relieved only by starlight, a three- 
masted schooner, tied to a dock in the river. 

“Get ’em aboard!” ordered Lavine, and his 
men hastened the progress of the captives. At the 
gangway the party was stopped by a man who 
challenged them : 

“ Who goes there? ” 

“ It’s all right. The Polly Ann and the dark 
hole,” replied Lavine. 

“ All right,” answered the man. “ Captain 
Reeger is expecting you? ” 

A little later the two boys found themselves 
aboard the schooner Polly Ann, which was destined 
to be their home for some time. 


CHAPTER XX 


OUT TO SEA 

“Where are you taking us? ” demanded Jack, 
as he came to a halt on the deck, and, by the gleam 
of a ship’s lantern looked at Lavine and Hemp 
Smith. The other three men, who must have 
ridden on the outside of the auto, crowded around 
the captives. 

“ We haven’t quite decided yet,” answered the 
promoter with a short laugh. “ You’re bound on 
a short cruise, and, perhaps, a long one.” 

“ You have things all your own way now,” re- 
torted Jack, “ but I want to tell you Jonas Lavine, 
and you, too. Hemp Smith, alias Marinello Boog- 
hoobally, alias Professor Punjab, that you’ll be 
sorry for this, and very soon, too. You are go- 
ing too far.” 

“ I’m not worried,” was Lavine’s answer. “ If 
you behave yourselves nothing will happen to you. 
If you don’t — ” 

“ Well, what then? ” asked Jack boldly, for he 
saw that Lavine was a coward. 

165 


i66 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ It’ll be the worse for you,” murmured Hemp 
Smith. 

“ You needn’t think you can scare us by such 
talk,” put in Nat, seconding Jack’s efforts to show 
that they were not alarmed. 

“ Well, I want to warn you not to try any tricks 
aboard this vessel,” went on Lavine. “ The com- 
mander has strict orders to deal with you accord- 
ingly, if you do. If you behave quietly no harm 
will come to you, and you will only be kept out of 
the way for a time. It’s your own fault that you’re 
here, and you’U have to put up with the con- 
sequences.” 

“ You said that before,” spoke Jack coolly. 
“ Give us something new.” 

His calm air seemed to irritate Lavine, who 
turned away with a muttered expression of wrath. 

“ Are you there. Captain Reeger? ” the swindler 
asked suddenly, as a tall, heavily-built man came 
up a companion way near where the captives, and 
their guards, were standing. 

“ Aye, aye, sir,” was the answer. “ Is that you 
Mr. Lavine.” 

“ Yes, and I have brought those boys I sent you 
\vord about. They want to take a voyage for their 
health, and I recommended your schooner. 

“ Ha! Ha ! ” laughed the captain as he came into 


OUT TO SEA 


167 


the circle of light. “ That’s a good joke, Mr. 
La vine. A good joke. Taking a voyage for 
their health. Ha! Ha!” 

Jack looked at the man in charge of the Polly 
Ann, He wanted to see what sort of a character 
he was. The captain’s laugh seemed forced, and 
his merriment unnatural. He seemed laboring 
under some excitement, and Jack and Nat noticed 
that his look kept shifting about, from Lavine to 
Hemp Smith, and then to the two captives whose 
direct gaze, however, he appeared to avoid meet- 
ing. 

“ There’s something wrong about Captain 
Reeger,” thought Jack, and after events proved 
that he was right. 

“So, those are the boys; eh?” asked the cap- 
tain. 

“Yes,” replied Lavine, “ and you’ll have to look 
sharp after them. They’ll try to get away from 
you.” 

“They will, eh? That’s a good joke too. I 
guess they’ll have hard work to do that. Look 
here, young men ! ” and the captain, who had been 
smiling, seemed suddenly to become stern. He 
approached close to Jack and Nat, and leering up 
into their faces said: “Don’t you try that on; 
do you hear? You’ll find me a tough customer! 


i68 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Any tricks and I’ll clap you in irons and put you in 
the brig! You’ll find Amos Reeger a tough old 
sea dog, if ever there was one! ” and he fairly 
growled out the words, and looked so menacing 
that Nat, whom he was nearest to, stepped back in 
some alarm. 

‘‘ That’s the way to talk to ’em ! ” exclaimed 
La vine approvingly. “If they try any tricks 
knock ’em down with a belaying pin, and if they 
try ’em again, knock ’em down the second time.” 

Captain Reeger turned to look at the speaker. 
As he did so a curious change came over his face. 
His countenance lost the fierce look, and he seemed 
more gentle. He even appeared to smile at Jack 
and Nat, and he acted as if he wanted to speak 
gently to them. But at a look from Lavine he 
grew stern again, and remarked: 

“ They’ll find me a tough customer to get along 
with. A rough old sea dog, if ever there was 
one,” and with that Captain Reeger turned aside. 

“ Is the place all ready for ’em? ” asked Lavine. 

“Yes,” spoke the captain shortly. “ Bring ’em 
right along. Have they been fed? ” 

“ They’ve had all they’re going to get,” replied 
Hemp Smith. 

“ You might give them water,” added Nick. 
“ It’s going to be a hot night.” 


OUT TO SEA 


169 

‘‘ You mind you own business,” spoke Lavine 
quickly. “ I’m running this game, and when I 
want your advice I’ll ask for it.” 

“ All right,” answered Nick and he shuffled back 
into the shadow. 

Jack and Nat felt grateful for even this evidence 
of kindness on the part of one of their captors. 

“ This way,” called Lavine sharply. “ Are 
you all ready to sail. Captain Reeger? ” 

“ Yes, Mr. Lavine. I’ll drop down the river in 
half an hour, as soon as the tide’s full. There’s 
a nasty bar at the mouth, and I don’t want to run 
up on it.” 

“ No, I wouldn’t advise you to. Well, I’m go- 
ing to leave ’em in your charge. Nick will stay 
with you, and give you a hand if necessary.” 

“ Oh, I reckon I can look after ’em,” replied the 
commander, and Jack had a feeling that the fierce 
tone of voice used by the man was forced and un- 
natural. Captain Reeger seemed to be a man of 
two personalities. At one time he was stern and 
ugly, and at others he appeared to want to be kind 
to his captives. Jack resolved on a bold appeal. 

“ Captain Reeger! ” he exclaimed suddenly, “ I 
want you to understand that my friend and myself 
are being carried away illegally. We were 
brought aboard this vessel against our will, and I 


170 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


demand that you set us ashore. If you don’t, at 
the first chance we get we will cause your arrest. 
You are doing an illegal act I ” 

“That’ll do you, Jack Ranger!” interrupted 
Hemp Smith. 

“I — er — I didn’t — ” began Captain Reeger 
when Lavine fiercely whispered something to him. 

“ That’s all right,” spoke the commander 
gruffly, his manner changing suddenly. “You 
boys are going with me, and I warn you that if you 
try any of your tricks it’ll go hard with you. I’m 
a tough old sea dog. As tough a one as ever 
sailed a ship ! So look out, both of you 1 ” 

Jack was disappointed. He hoped his appeal 
to the captain, who, he thought, might possibly be 
deceived by Lavine, would prove of some benefit. 
But the commander was evidently in the promoter’s 
pay, and would do as Lavine requested. 

“ This way,” called Captain Reeger, motioning 
for the boys to follow him. “ Here, Larson, lend 
a hand here. They may be up to some trick.” 

As he spoke a big Swede, who, as the lads 
learned later, was the mate, shambled forward, 
and took his place beside the captives. Nick 
brought up in the rear. There was no chance to 
escape and Jack and Nat, very much downcast and 
sick at heart, followed the commander. 


OUT TO SEA 


171 

“ We’re going ashore,” said Lavine to the cap- 
tain. “ We’ll let you hear from us later. You 
know where to go; don’t you? ” 

“ Oh yes, I’ll follow the instructions you gave,” 
and Jack Imagined that the captain spoke bitterly. 

The young captives saw Hemp Smith, Lavine 
and the other two men go ashore, and, as Jack 
and Nat were led down a dimly-lighted compan- 
ion way, they heard the puffing of the automobile 
that had brought them to the ship. 

“Here’s where you stay!” spoke the captain 
gruffly, a little later, and the boys found them- 
selves thrust into a dark hole. A door was closed 
upon them, and they stood for a few moments not 
daring to move, for fear of falling down some 
opening. 

“ Well, this Is the worst yet,” remarked Nat. 
“Where are you. Jack? I can’t see two inches 
in this place.” 

“I’m right here. They must have put us Into 
the hold. But wait a minute. I’ve got some 
matches and we’ll take a look. It’s lucky they 
didn’t leave us tied as they did in the cave.” 

“ That’s right. Go ahead, strike a match.” 

A moment later a little flare of light showed 
them the Interior of their prison. It was a small 
compartment, somewhere in the lower part of the 


172 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


ship. It had evidently been used as a storeroom 
at one time, for there were no openings or port- 
holes in the sides. There was a small ventilator 
in the door. 

“ Here’s a lantern,” exclaimed Nat, as he saw 
one swinging from a hook overhead. “ Let’s 
light it. No use being in the dark.” 

Jack applied the match to the wick, and the boys 
felt more cheerful as the kindly, mellow glow 
shone about them. They saw that there were 
some chairs, a table, and two bunks in the com- 
partment. 

“ They evidently expected us,” remarked Jack. 
“ This place seems all ready for us.” 

“ Too ready,” grumbled Nat. 

“ I’m sorry I got you into this trouble,” said 
Jack quickly, fancying he detected a note of anger 
in Nat’s voice. “ I shouldn’t have made you 
come.” 

“ Oh, you get out! ” exclaimed Nat. “ Don’t 
you s’pose I wanted to see the thing out, just as 
much as you did? I’m not kicking. This is a 
lark. Let’s make the best of it. Maybe we can 
show Captain Reeger a trick that he doesn’t know 
about. It’s a pity if two of the brightest students 
of Washington Hall, if I do say it myself, can’t 
make the bunch on this schooner wish they hadn’t 


OUT TO SEA 


173 


monkeyed with us. We’ll make ’em sit up and 
take notice before we get through with ’em ! ” 

“That’s the way to talk!” exclaimed Jack. 
“ I’m glad you feel that way about it. But I wish 
they’d bring us something to eat and drink. I’m 
hungry.” 

“ Don’t mention it,” begged Nat. “ You heard 
what Hemp Smith said.” 

“ Yes, and I’ll pay him back for it some day, 
too. But isn’t that some one at the door? ” 

There was no mistake about it. Someone was 
fumbling at the lock of the door. A moment later 
the portal opened, and there appeared, framed in 
the opening, a tall, good-natured looking colored 
man, bearing in one hand a large basket, and, in 
the other, a lighted lantern. 

“ Why, I see yo’ all done gone an’ lighted yo’ 
light,” he remarked, as he saw the glowing hang- 
ing lamp. 

“ We didn’t like the dark,” exclaimed Jack. 
“ But who are you? ” 

“Me? Why, I’se Jupiter Johnson, but dey 
mostly calls me Jupe, ’cause it’s shorter I ’spect, 
an’ Cap’n Reeger ain’t a man t’ waste words.” 

“And what are you, Jupe?” inquired Nat. 
“ Are you the chief engineer? ” 

“Engineer? Good land a’ massy! Dis yeah 


174 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

ain’t no steamship. Dis am a schooner, an’ I’m dc 
cook! Ha! Ha. Yo’-all done gone an’ t’ink dis 
am a steamship ! Good land a’ massy ! ” 

“ So you’re the cook; eh? ” repeated Jack. “ I 
hope you’ve brought something to eat in that 
basket.” 

“ Dat’s jest what I done, boy! I reckoned yo’- 
all’d be pow’ful hungry, an’ when Captain Reeger 
tole me t’ fetch yo’-all in a little snack, I done 
gone an’ put up a good one.” 

“ Did Captain Reeger send you here with food 
for us? ” asked Jack quickly. 

“ Dat’s what he done. Why, dat ain’t nuffin’, 
am it? ” 

“ Oh, no. I s’pose not,” but Jack was begin- 
ning to have some curious thoughts regarding 
Captain Reeger. 

There was a substantial meal in the basket, and 
some lemonade in a pitcher, which seemed to the 
thirsty boys the best beverage they had ever drank. 

“ I’se got orders t’ leave this heah grub wif yo’- 
all,” went on Jupe, “ an’ lock de do’ arter me. 
I hopes yo’-all won’t take it mean on my part. 
I’se got t’ do as I’se tole — ” 

“ That’s all right,” answered Jack, easily., “ It 
tsn’t your fault. We’re going to escape some 


OUT TO SEA 


175 


night and sink the ship, but we’ll see that youVe 
saved.” 

“ Good land a’ massy! ” exclaimed the colored 
man, his eyes big with terror. “ Yo’-all ain’t 
gwine t’ do dat; am yo’ now? ” 

“ We sure are! ” exclaimed Jack firmly, winking 
his eye at Nat. “ Maybe we’ll burn the ship be- 
sides sinking her; eh Nat? ” 

“ Sure,” replied Nat, as fiercely as possible, con- 
sidering the fact that he was eating. 

“ I spects I’d better tell Cap’n Reeger — ” 

“ Don’t you mention a word to him, or we’ll 
feed you to the sharks ! ” whispered Jack savagely. 
“ Mind! Not a word. We’re grandsons of Cap- 
tain Kidd, the terrible pirate! ” he added. 
Mum’s the word if you want to live ! ” 

Poor Jupe was trembling, but he managed to 
promise that he would not reveal the plot of the 
prisoners. He withdrew hastily after that, and 
his hand shook so he could hardly lock the door. 

“ We’ve got him on our side, at all events,” 
remarked Nat. “ I guess it isn’t going to be so 
bad here, after all.” 

“ There’s something queer about Captain Ree- 
ger,” said Jack slowly, in deep thought. “ I can’t 
understand him. Hemp Smith gave orders we 


176 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


weren’t to be fed, and Lavine agreed with him. 
Now the captain is supposed to obey Lavine’s or- 
ders, I take it, but here he goes and sends us some 
grub. There’s something queer about it.” 

“ Well, don’t worry,” advised Nat. “ Take the 
goods the gods provide, and say nothing. I’m 
glad there’s a bunk to sleep in, for I’m tired.” 

The boys were suddenly aware that the vessel 
was moving. Sounds on deck, of men tramping 
back and forth, of ropes creaking inu pulleys, told 
them that sails were being hoisted; 

‘‘ We’re off,” said Jack. 

“Yes, and we don’t know where to,” added Nat. 
“ Anyway I’m not hungry now.” 

They sat and talked for somei time. No on& 
came to disturb them, and as they were beginning 
to feel sleepy, in spite of their strange surround- 
ings, they turned in. 

Jack must have been asleep* for. several hours, 
when he was suddenly awakened,, by^ being tossed 
against the side of his bunk: 

“ Are you awake, Nat? ” he called. 

“ Yes. Say, what’s the matter? 

“ Why, we’re out to sea, and there’s quite a 
swell on. The Polly t Ann has begun her ocean 
cruise.” 


CHAPTER XXI 


BREAKING CAMP 

Meanwhile, under the direction of Mr. Skid- 
more, efforts were being made to find Jack and 
Nat. When Sam and Bony returned to camp, 
the former began packing up his things, in readi- 
ness to hurry home to his father, in response to 
the telegram. 

“ I hate to leave you. Bony,” he said. “ It’s 
too bad to spoil your fun.” 

“ You’ll not spoil it. Budge and I will have 
the time of our lives hunting for Jack and Nat; 
eh. Budge.” 

“ Betcherlife,” and Budge started on some fresh 
gum. 

When Sam had packed up. Budge and Bony 
rowed him to a place where he could take a steam- 
boat that would get him home more quickly than 
going by train. 

“ Come back if you can,” urged Bony. 

“ I will, but I don’t believe I’ll be able to man- 
age it. You find Jack and Nat.” 

177 


178 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ I will, Sam.” 

With Sam gone, the camp seemed lonesome, and 
the two boys, returning to it, experienced a sense 
of gloom. 

“ I don’t believe we’ll stay here, unless we find 
Jack,” announced Bony. 

“ Snowfun,” was the characteristic answer of 
Budge. 

“ Tell you what we’ll do^” went on Bony. 
“ We’ll both go back to Sickonsonnett, and help 
Mr. Skidmore. I don’t believe any one will 
bother our camp, and we’ll both feel better if we 
can join in the search for Jack and Nat.” 

Budge agreed to this, and, putting the camp 
in good shape, they set off to see what progress 
had been made toward getting ready a searching 
party. They found that Mr. Skidmore had not 
been idle. Several constables were on hand, and 
more had sent word that they were coming. 

“ I guess we’ve got enough of a party to make 
a search of the woods,” announced the proprietor 
of the “ Emporium.” He looked at the little 
force, of which he had elected himself the head. 
“ You’ll have to lead the way,” he said to Bony. 
“ Take us where you last saw Jack and Nat.” 

It was a long tramp through the woods, but 
finally the searchers arrived at the spot where they 


BREAKING CAMP 


179 


had seen the red-haired man looking up through 
the big, hollow stump. 

“ Now scatter,” advised Mr. Skidmore. 

What we want to do is to find that cave.” 

This was more easily said than done, and the 
posse spent all the rest of that day searching for an 
entrance to the cavern they knew must exist some- 
where beneath them. But the rascals, under La- 
vine’s direction, had done their work well, and 
there was no trace of the cave, in which, at that 
moment. Jack and Nat were held captive, right 
under where their friends were looking for 
them. 

“ It’s too dark to look any further to-night,” 
said Mr. Skidmore finally. “ We’ll have to come 
back to-norrow.” 

“ We’ll be here,” declared Bony. 

“Why, where are you going?” asked Mr. 
Skidmore. 

“ Back to camp.” 

“ You’d better stay with me to-night,” invited 
the storekeeper. “ I’ve got lots of room, and my 
wife’ll be glad to see you.” 

“ No, I think we’d better return to camp,” ob- 
jected Bony. “ You see Jack might come back, 
and he wouldn’t know what to think, if no one 
was there.” 


i8o JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ How’s he and his friend goin’ to come back 
when he’s lost? ” asked one of the constables. 

“ Or held somewhere by the gang you speak 
of?” asked another. 

“ You don’t know Jack Ranger,” declared Bony 
confidently. “ If there’ a way to get loose he’ll 
do it, and if he gets loose he’ll come back to 
camp.” 

“ Swathewill,” added Budge quickly. 

So nothing Mr. Skidmore could say would in- 
duce the boys to spend the night at his home. 
They went back to camp. Lonely enough it was, 
and they passed a restless night, hoping, every 
hour, that they might hear the welcome sound of 
Jack’s voice, or that of Nat. 

“ Well, he and Nat didn’t come,” said Bony in 
disappointed tones as he arose, and helped Budge 
to get breakfast. 

“ Nope,” was all Budge said, but it did not 
need a very keen observer to tell that he felt Jack’s 
and Nat’s plight greatly. The boys did not care 
to eat much, and they soon set off for Mr. Skid- 
more’s place. 

They found him with several more constables, 
waiting for them, as news of the missing boys had 
spread, and all who heard of it were anxious to 
help find them. 


BREAKING CAMP 


i8i 

The search was kept up all that day, the woods 
being crossed and re-crossed in an effort to locate 
the cave. It was toward dusk when they had 
their first success. This was the discovery, by 
one of the constables, of a small hole in the side of 
a hill. At first he took it for the entrance to the 
den of a fox, but, when he looked a little closer, 
he saw that it was quite a large opening, partly 
concealed by brush and rocks. He and some com- 
panions tore these away. 

“Here’s the entrance to the cave! ” he cried, 
and Bony, Budge and Mr. Skidmore hastened to 
the place. 

It was indeed the entrance, not the one through 
which Nat and Jack had fallen, but the main one, 
through which the boys had been led captive the 
night they were taken on the schooner. Lavine 
and his gang had been careless in concealing the 
opening, after they had fled from it. 

For that they had fled, taking all their presses 
and engines with them, was soon demonstrated. 
Lanterns were procured, and an examination made. 
The cave was deserted, and not so much as a scrap 
of paper was left. 

There were evidences that the cavern had been 
recently occupied, and it was concluded that the 
men in it had gone, taking Nat and Jack with 


i 82 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


them. iWhat the place had been used for none 
of the searching party could imagine, since they 
had not the evidence of the torn pieces of bonds 
and stocks that had given Jack his clew. 

“ Probably it was a counterfeiting den,” said 
one of the constables. “ I wish we’d been a little 
sooner. The government pays a good reward for 
the capture of counterfeiters.” 

“ I’d rather have found Jack and Nat,” said 
Bony quietly. 

“ Same here,” added Budge, solacing himself 
with more gum. 

It was decided that it would be little use to hunt 
any further in the woods, and the posse dispersed. 
Bony and Budge made up their minds it would 
be best to break camp, and the next day they 
packed their things, and shipped them to Denton, 
whither they followed, carrying the ill news to 
Mr. Ranger and Jack’s three aunts. 

That it created consternation may easily be im- 
agined, and Nat’s parents were almost frantic. 
But Mr. Ranger pointed out that the two lads 
were quite capable of taking care of themselves, 
even under hard circumstances, and with this Mr. 
and Mrs. Anderson tried to be content. 

“ We’ll send out a general alarm for them, and 


BREAKING CAMP 183 

offer a reward,” said Mr. Ranger. “ Besides Pll 
go hunting them myself.” 

“ You’re not strong enough,” objected Aunt 
Angelina. 

“ Yes, I am,” insisted Jack’s father. “ My 
son found me, away off in the Rocky mountains, 
and now I’m going to find him — no matter 
where he isl ” 


CHAPTER XXII 


JERRY CHOWDEN ABOARD 

Under ordinary circumstances neither Jack nor 
Nat would have been much alarmed at the pros- 
pect of an ocean voyage. They had done con- 
siderable traveling, and they knew how to take 
care of themselves. But this time it was different. 

They were in the power of desperate men, and 
did not know what would be done with them. 
They were on a vessel, the size of which they could 
only guess, and they did not know the quality of 
the seamanship of Captain Reeger and his crew. 
They might not know how to sail a ship, in spite 
of the assertion of the captain that he was an 
“ old sea dog.” 

Take it all in all Jack Ranger and his chum felt 
that they were in rather a dangerous position. 
They were quite alarmed at discovering that they 
were out to sea. 

The two boys got out of their bunks, which was 
no easy matter on account of the way the ship was 
pitching and tossing. 


184 


JERRY CHOWDEN ABOARD 


185 


“ I should say there was quite a swell on,” 
observed Nat. “ Jupe’s pancakes! — Fm going 
to say that after this, instead of Jupiter’s — it’s 
shorter.” 

“ If we could only get a look out, to see where 
we were, it wouldn’t be so bad. But this is going 
it blindfold.” 

“ There must be some opening to this place,” 
went on Nat, looking about in the light of the 
lamp which still burned, but which was swaying 
to and fro from the motion of the ship. 

“ I’m afraid not. They wouldn’t take any 
chances on us.” 

“ Speaks well for our abilities.” 

“ Sure it does. The next time Jupe comes in 
with some grub we must scare him into telling 
us where the ship’s bound.” ♦ 

“ Maybe he doesn’t know.” 

“ Sure he does. You can’t keep a secret like 
that from a cook. We’ll make him tell.” 

Hoping against hope, the boys made an exam- 
ination of their prison. There was no opening in 
it save the door, and this was strong, and, seem- 
ingly, well fastened. There was a ventilator in 
the portal, but it was made in the shape of a win- 
dow shutter, with fixed slats, sloping upward, and 
nothing could be seen through it. 


i86 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


The pitching and tossing of the ship seemed 
to increase, and the boys had difficulty in keeping 
their footing. They were thrown against the 
sides of the room, or against the bunks, chairs or 
table, until they decided the safest position was 
lying down, so they could brace themselves. 

It was nearly nine o’clock, as they saw by Jack’s 
watch, when Jupe came in with another basket of 
food, and a pot of hot coffee. 

“ That’s the stuff I ” exclaimed Nat. “ Catty- 
cornered kitty-winks, Jupe I But you were a long 
time coming! ” 

“ Wha — what’s dat yo’ said?” inquired the 
colored man, his eyes opening very wide. 

“ Said? What? When? ” asked Nat, inspect- 
ing the contents of the basket. 

“ Suffin ’bout cats an’ kittens.” 

“ Oh, that’s what I always say when I’m hun- 
gry,” replied Jack’s chum. “ Cocky doodlc- 
doodle-dumsl This is a good breakfast. Jack! 
Farinaceous fish-cakes ! ” 

“Is yo’ — is yo’ often troubled that way?” 
asked Jupe. 

“ Once in a while,” answered Jack. “ He gets 
violent if he doesn’t have his way, and then every- 
body wants to look out.” 

Jupe began to edge toward the door. 


JERRY CHOWDEN ABOARD 187 


“I — I ’spects I’d better be goin’ ” he remarked 
casually. “ I’ll come in an’ git dem dishes when 
yo’-all is through.” 

“Wait!” exclaimed Jack, seeing a chance to 
get the information he wanted. “ Jupe, you must 
tell us where this ship is bound for, or we’ll make 
you walk the plank just before we sink and burn 
her. Where is she going?” 

“ Deedy an’ I doan know, boss,” replied the 
cook, his eyes rolling until only the whites could 
be seen. “ Cap’n Reeger he done gone an’ sail 
wifout tellin’ me or anybody whar we’s gwine to. 
Deedy an’ I doan know. Yo’-all wouldn’t go fo’ 
to hurt a po’ ole cullud cook; would yo’-all now? ” 

“We might, unless you tell us where we’re 
going,” said Nat fiercely. “ Look here, Jupe. 
Withering whangdoodles ! If you don’t know 
where the ship’s bound to, you can find out 1 ” 

“ Yais, maybe I could do dat.” 

“ Do It then, or we may have to subject you to 
the terrible torture of the parallellum pippedon,” 
spoke Jack suddenly. “ Bring us the information 
we need by nightfall, or your life may pay the 
penalty.” 

“I — I do jest as yo’-all say,” replied Jupe, 
his knees trembling. “ But doan tell Cap’n Ree- 
ger.” 


i88 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ We’ll feed him to the sharks ! ” whispered 
Nat. “ Now leave us, Jupe. We would dine in 
peace.” 

“ Yais sah, I’s gwine right away-immejete, sah,” 
and the colored man slid out of the door, which, 
the boys noticed, was fastened with a spring 
catch. 

They made a good meal, and then waited anx- 
iously for the reappearance of the colored cook. 
He came in at noon, bringing some more food, 
but he stated, with every appearance of telling 
the truth, that he had not been able, as yet, to 
find out whither the Polly Ann was bound. 

“ I’se gwine to make another try,” he whis- 
pered. 

“ Where are we now? ” asked Jack. 

“ We’s off de Long Island shoah now, sah.” 

The colored cook’s respect for the two prisoners 
had increased very materially of late. 

And which way are we going? ” 

“ We’s goin’ up.” 

“ We must be headed for the New England 
coast,” observed Jack, when the colored man had 
gone. “ I wonder what Lavine’s object is? ” 

There was little use of speculating, and the 
boys soon gave it up. As Jack was sitting idly in 
a chair, staring at the door of their prison, as if 


JERRY CHOWDEN ABOARD 189 

it- would open of itself, and let them out, he ut- 
tered a sudden exclamation. 

“ What is it? ” asked Nat. 

“ Why didn’t I think of it before? ” murmured 
Jack. 

“ Think of what? ” 

“ Trying to pick the lock. It wouldn’t be the 
first time we did it, and they had some pretty good 
locks at Washington Hall.” 

“ So they did. Why didn’t we try it before. 
Let’s do it now.” 

Jack and Nat were never without a good knife 
or two between them, and this time, because they 
were off camping, they had an unusual supply of 
various articles in their pockets, which, fortu- 
nately, Lavine and his crowd had not emptied. 

Jack got out his knife and a button hook, a 
little instrument with which he had, more than 
once, opened a lock to some forbidden part of 
the boarding school. He began to manipulate 
the lock of their prison. 

“ Wait a minute ! ” exclaimed Nat. “ Why not 
take a look out first, and see where we’re going 
to land, in case we open the door? ” 

“How can I?” 

“ There’s the ventilator. Cut out a slat and 
look through the hole.” 


190 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

Sure enough. Why didn’t I think of that, 
too. Here goes for a peep.” 

It did not take Jack long, using his strong, 
sharp knife, and standing on one of the chairs, 
to cut a hole through a slat of the ventilator. He 
looked from the opening. 

“ There’s some sort of a passage outside,” he 
reported to his chum. “ Maybe we could get on 
deck, and if we once could — ” 

“ What would you do — swim for it? ” 

“No, but we might yell for help, and be heard 
by some passing vessel. Or we could put up a 
fight, and raise such a row that Captain Reeger 
might be glad to get rid of us.” 

“ I’m ready for anything. Go ahead. Open 
the door.” 

This was a more difficult matter than Jack had 
anticipated. The lock was a heavy, and peculiar 
one, but he finally solved the problem by cutting 
a hole clear through the door, so he could slip 
the button hook through, and pull back the catch 
that held the portal in place. 

It was just getting dusk when the two young 
prisoners stepped out of the apartment, and looked 
cautiously about them. No one was in sight. 

“ This way,” whispered Jack. “ I think I see 
a companionway.” 


JERRY CHOWDEN ABOARD 191 


They stole cautiously forward, pausing now and 
then to see if they were observed, or to listen to 
any sounds that might indicate that their escape 
had been discovered. 

How their hearts beat! Their breaths came 
laboredly, for much depended on this move. 
Would they succeed? Or would they be detected 
and thrust into some place from whence it would 
be impossible to get out ? 

Jack reached the foot of the companion stairs. 
He looked about. No one was in sight. Look- 
ing up he could see the evening glow, and he knew 
that this was the way to the deck. 

“ Come on,” he whispered to Nat. “ We can’t 
tell what to do until we get up. Maybe we can 
lower a boat and get away. There doesn’t seem 
to be any one about.” 

Cautiously the two stole up on deck. They 
reached it safely, and noted that it appeared to 
be deserted. On one side, on davits, hung a boat 
containing oars. Jack gave one glance across the 
broad water. It seemed peaceful and calm. 
They might be able to reach shore, if they could 
only gain the boat and lower it. They knew how 
to do it. 

“ Come on,” whispered Jack. “ We’ll try the 
boat,” 


192 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


They had almost reached it, and their hearts 
were beating high with hope, when they were 
startled by a voice shouting : 

“ They’re loose! The prisoners are loose! ” 

They turned to see Nick rushing up to them. 
He had been standing near the wheel. But their 
chagrin at being discovered was more than bal- 
anced by their surprise at the sight of a figure 
beside Nick. This was none other than their old 
enemy Jerry Chowden. He ran along beside La- 
vine’s crony. 

“ Catch ’em ! ” he yelled. “ Nab ’em^ Nick. 
I’ll help you 1 Don’t let ’em get away I ” 


CHAPTER XXIII 


CAPTAIN REEGER’s ODDITIES 

Jack turned so as to face Jerry. He made up 
his mind that he would have one good chance at 
the bully, and give him the best threshing he had 
ever had. But Jerry had no mind to try con- 
clusions with the lad who had, more than once, 
bested him. So he dropped back, though he con- 
tinued to yell to Nick: 

‘‘ Catch ’em ! Grab ’em. I’ll call Captain 
Reegerl ” 

Nick rushed at Nat, and, though the lad tried 
to break away, the ruffian’s hold was too strong. 
Jack started to the relief of his chum, but as he 
did so he felt himself seized from behind, and 
he heard the voice of Larson, the mate saying: 

“Now if yo’ bane go easy yo’ bane all rate. 
I no laik hart yo’, for I bane strong man. Yo’ 
go easy now.” 

The Swede was a big fellow, and strong. Jack 
being no more than a child in his grasp, so our 
hero concluded, perforce, that discretion was the 
193 


1194 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

better part of valor. He ceased to struggle and 
Larson held him easily. 

“ That bane best t’ing fo’ yo’ do/’ said the 
mate, not unkindly. 

“ If you help us to escape/’ whispered Jack 
quickly, “ I will pay you well. Help us get into 
the boat. You can whip Nick.” 

“ Yais, I gais I might, but I bane goin’ stay 
here. Here them boys be, Captain Reeger,” and 
the Swede turned to the commander, still holding 
Jack. Nick had Nat In a firm grip, while Jerry 
stood at a safe distance back, and grinned in a 
aggravating manner. 

“ So you thought you’d get away, did you ? ” 
asked the bully with a sneer. “ Well, that’s the 
time you got left I ” 

“Here! Stow that sort of jaw-tackle,” ex- 
claimed the captain. “ When I want any talking 
done I’ll let you know.” 

Jerry slunk away, abashed, and the commander 
approached Jack and Nat. 

“ So you didn’t care for the quarters I assigned 
to you ; eh ? ” he asked. 

“We thought we’d be able to see more out 
here,” replied Jack, for he fancied he detected a 
kind note in the captain’s voice, and something in 


CAPTAIN REEGER^S ODDITIES 195 

his manner, that indicated that he was not much 
displeased with the boys’ efforts to escape. 

“ Yes, we have quite a view out here,” spoke 
the commander, and he smiled. “ But I think I’ll 
have to put you below,” he went on. ^ 

‘‘ Mr. Lavine’s orders were to keep ’em close,” 
put in Nick. 

“ Don’t I know it? ” asked the captain fiercely, 
his manner changing suddenly. “ I know my in- 
structions, I reckon. When I want your advice 
I’ll ask for it.” 

He turned aside and addressed the mate. 

“ Take ’em below, Mr. Larson,” he said, in a 
harsh voice. “ Put ’em in the cabin back of mine, 
where I can keep my eye on the young cubs. 
We’ll put a stop to this monkey-shine business. 
How' did you get out? ” he asked, turning to Jack. 

“ Very easily. Cut a hole in the door, and 
slipped back the catch,” replied our hero, who 
saw no reason for concealing the method, since 
an inspection of the portal of the prison would 
easily show the manner of their escape. 

“ Humph I ” murmured the commander. “ Let 
me warn you not to try that again. If you do — ” 

“ Captain Reegerl ” exclaimed Jack suddenly 
and boldly, “ you have no right to keep us pris- 


196 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


oners aboard this schooner. You are acting il- 
legally, and, sooner or later, you’ll pay for it. I 
know Hemp Smith to be a criminal, wanted on 
several charges. My father knows Jonas Lavine, 
who also has a criminal record. They will be ar- 
rested as soon as I can get away from here, and I 
want to tell you right now that we’re going to 
escape the first chance we get.” 

“ Don’t you talk that way to me ! ” stormed the 
captain. “ I’m in charge of this ship, and — ” 

“I don’t care who you are!” retorted Jack, 
now thoroughly aroused. “ I’m not afraid of 
you, or any of your pack of cowards, including 
that bully Jerry Chowden ! ” 

“ Don’t you call me a bully! ” cried Jerry. 

“ I’ll call you anything I like, and you don’t 
dare stand up here to me, face to face on this 
deck! ” declared Jack. “ I dare you to! Give 
him a chance. Captain Reeger. He daren’t face 
me in a fair fight ! ” 

Jack struggled to free himself, but the mate 
held him fast. Jerry shrank back, as if he feared 
his enemy would put his threat into execution. 

“ There, there,” spoke Captain Reeger sooth- 
ingly. “ Take it easy now. You can’t do any 
fighting on my ship.” 


CAPTAIN REEGER’S ODDITIES 197 


“ I’ll go for him the first chance I get ashore,” 
threatened Jack. 

“ Take ’em below, Mr. Larson,” ordered the 
commander again. “ I don’t like brawls on my 
deck. Escape if you can,” he added, turning to 
Jack and Nat. “ I give you full leave to — only 
I don’t believe you can.” 

His manner was fierce again, and he seemed to 
repent of his temporary softness toward his pri- 
soners. 

“ Better tie ’em,” observed Nick. 

“ I’m giving orders aboard this craft,” retorted 
the captain curtly. “ Take ’em below.” 

There was no choice but for the boys to obey. 
Nick and Larson led them into a cabin, back of 
one occupied by Captain Reeger. It was better 
than the dungeon from which they had escaped, 
but it was also stronger. Though there were port 
holes opening from the sides of the ship, they were 
covered with heavy iron bars, bolted into the wood. 
To get out the lads would have to pass through 
the commander’s room, and they did not doubt but 
that a guard would be stationed there all the while. 

They were thrust into the now dark cabin, and 
the door was closed and bolted. Discouraged over 
their failure Jack and Nat sat down on chairs. 


198 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

It was so dark now that it was impossible to see 
across the small cabin where they were confined. 
They could hear persons moving about in the other 
apartment through which they had been brought 
to their prison. 

“ I suppose Captain Reeger’s having his supper 
now,” observed Nat. 

“ Most likely,” agreed Jack. “ Wish we 
were.” 

But several hours passed, and no one came near 
them. The ship kept on, though of course they 
could not tell where they were bound. 

Suddenly the door of their cabin opened. A 
flood of light from the room of Captain Reegcr 
nearly blinded them. They saw several hanging 
lamps lighted, and a table spread with a bountiful 
meal. 

“ Boys, I’d like to have you take supper with 
me,” said the commander. “ I don’t like to eat 
alone. Jupe, put chairs for the young gentle- 
men.” 

Jupe, smiling broadly, so that his big white 
teeth looked, in his expanse of black face, like aj 
row of gravestones on a dark night, set two chairs 
at the table across from the commander of the 
Polly Ann. 

“ Sit up, boys,” invited Mr. Reeger. “ I know 


CAPTAIN REEGER’S ODDITIES 


199 


Tm hungry, and I hope you are, for Jupe has a 
good meal here.” 

The boys hardly knew what to make of the odd 
conduct of the captain. A few hours before he 
had harshly ordered them locked up. Now he 
invited them to dine with him. Did this presage 
their release? They hoped so. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 

The meal was a good one, and, in spite of the 
uncertainties of their position the two captive lads 
enjoyed it. Jupe bustled about, here and there, 
seeing that their plates were kept filled, and attend- 
ing to the captain. Jack decided there would be 
no better time than the present to venture one or 
two questions. 

“We’re having pretty good weather now; 
aren’t we? ” he began. 

“ Very fair, yes, very fair,” replied the com- 
mander. 

“ Do you think it will get rougher when we get 
beyond Long Island? ” 

The captain started, and looked closely at Jack. 
A strange look came into his eyes. 

“ How do you know we are going beyond Long 
Island ? ” he inquired. 

“ That’s what I want to know,” spoke Jack 
quickly, “ Look here, Captain Reeger, you’ve 
200 


A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 


201 


been kind to us — lately — and I think you might 
at least tell us where we’re bound.” 

“ Besides you haven’t any right to take us off,” 
added N^t. 

“ I know that,” was the rather unexpected an- 
swer. “ I’m sorry, but it can’t be helped.” 

“ I don’t see why not,” said Jack. “ You can 
easily enough set us ashore.” 

“ I wish I could,” murmured the commander, 
and Jack and Nat wondered then, why he did not. 
Clearly there was more of a mystery than they 
suspected. The captain wanted to let them go, 
yet dare not 1 Who was the person who exercised 
such power over him? Was it La vine or Hemp 
Smith ? 

“ Then can’t you tell us where we are going? ” 
continued Jack. “ Surely, even if we are to be kept 
prisoners, until that rascally gang gets rid of the 
printing plant, you might tell us where we’re being 
taken.” 

Do you know of the printing plant? ” asked 
Captain Reeger quickly. 

We certainly do,” replied Nat. “We hap- 
pened to stumble in on it,” and he could not help 
smiling at the recollection of the manner in which 
he and Jack had fallen into the cave. 


202 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Fm sorry, but I can’t tell where you are being 
taken,” was the commander’s slow answer. “ I 
can assure you of this, however, that no harm will 
come to you as long as you do not try to escape.” 

“And if we do?” asked Jack. 

“ I shall have to restrain you with force, that’s 
all. But I hope there will be no necessity for 
that.” 

“ We’ll not promise,” went on our hero. 
“ We’re going to escape if possible.” 

“ I don’t know as I blame you,” was the answer 
from this rather strange man who was in charge 
of the ship. “ I’d probably do the same. Only 
I’ll stop you if I can.” 

“ Then it’s an even contest,” spoke Nat. 

“How did Jerry Chowden come aboard?” 
went on Jack, in an effort to learn as much as pos- 
sible about the situation. 

“ That is another thing I am not at liberty to 
tell you,” was the reply. “ You had better not 
ask any more questions, boys, for I’ll not answer 
them. Sufficient to say that you’re booked to stay 
aboard for some time yet, and that you’ll be treated 
well — under certain conditions. That’s all I can 
say. Jupe, you may bring in the pudding, and 
have plenty of sauce with it.” 

“ Pudding,” murmured Jack. The captain was 


A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 


203 


certainly not sparing anything, in the way of food, 
to make their enforced stay pleasant. The colored 
man came in with a big dish that had a savory 
smell, and the boys were helped liberally. 

“ We’ll be off Montauk Point soon,” said the 
commander, when the meal was finished. “ I hope 
you boys are not subject to seasickness.” 

“Why?” asked Nat, who had not traveled 
much on the ocean. 

“ Because it’s usually quite rough off the point, 
and it seems to be blowing up a bit.” 

“ I guess we can stand it,” remarked Jack. 

“ Well, if you find the schooner pitching and 
tossing considerably don’t be alarmed,” said Cap- 
tain Reeger. “ I have to lock you up, you know.” 

“ Couldn’t you let us stay outside? ” asked Nat. 

“ I will, if you give me your word that you will 
not try to escape.” 

“ We’ll not promise,” put in Jack quickly. 
“We appreciate what you’ve done. Captain, but 
we can’t promise. 

“ Very well,” was the rather cold answer. “ I 
shall have — ” 

Before the commander had a chance to finish the 
sentence the door of the cabin was opened, and 
Nick stepped inside. He appeared surprised at 
seeing the boys seated at the captain’s dining table. 


204 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“Well?” inquired Captain Reeger sharply. 
“ What is it?” 

“ The mate sent me to call you, sir,” replied 
Nick. “ He says he doesn’t like the looks of the 
weather.” 

“ All right. I’ll come on deck. Now you boys 
can get back to your cabin,” went on the captain, 
and he spoke so harshly that Jack and Nat were 
amazed. “ And you’d better make up your minds 
not to escape,” he added. “ For you’ll find I’m 
a rough old sea dog — there’s none rougher on 
these waters when I’m roused, and it will go hard 
with you. Back to your cabin now. Jupe, dou- 
ble bar that door, and if you hear them making 
any noise, call me. There’ll be someone on guard 
in here, so you’d better behave yourselves. I’ve 
had ’em in here to question ’em,” the captain added 
to Nick, “ but they’re sullen young cubs. I can 
get nothing from them.” 

“ Leave that to Lavine and Hemp Smith,” an- 
swered, Nick, with a laugh. “ They’ll make ’em 
know what’s what. 

“ We’re not afraid of either of those cowards ! ” 
exclaimed Jack. “ Why don’t they fight fair. 
I’ll meet either or both of them in a fair contest. 
They’re coward’s just like you, and Jerry Chow- 
den, and the rest of the rascally gang.” 


A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 


205 


“ You keep a civil tongue in your head or 
I’ll—” 

Nick strode forward. 

“ That’ll do here ! ” interrupted the captain 
sharply. “ This is my cabin, and I’m giving or- 
ders on this ship. You can go on deck,” he 
added significantly to Nick. “ I’ll manage these 
boys.” 

He seemed anxious to get the prisoners away, 
and his manner had undergone a curious 
change. 

“ Lock ’em up, Jupe,” he ordered. 

“ This way, gen’men,” spoke the colored man 
softly, opening the door of the cabin that was to 
be the prison of the two lads. Jupe seemed afraid 
to come too close to Jack and Nat. 

“ You’re a coward, and you know it,” called 
Jack tauntingly to Nick. The man turned, his 
face red with anger, but a warning look from Cap- 
tain Reeger stopped him, and he went out. A 
little later Jack and Nat were locked in the inner 
cabin, but Jupe lighted a lamp for them. 

“ Well this is worse and more of it,” remarked 
Nat. “ Slathering slumpledubs ! But what made 
you speak so to Nick? ” 

“ I wanted to make him mad, and attack us. 
Then there’d be a fine row, and, during the con- 


2o6 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


fusion we might get away. I’m not afraid to fight 
him. Both together we could do him.” 

“ Maybe; if the captain and Jupe didn’t take a 
hand, to say nothing of that giant of a mate.’” 

“ I don’t believe the captain would lay a hand 
on us. As for Jupe, we’ve got him scared. He’s 
superstitious, like many colored men, and if we 
could play a couple of queer jokes on him, and 
make him believe we possessed mysterious powers, 
I think we could make him do whatever we wanted 
him to do.” 

They made a careful examination of the cabin, 
but they soon decided that the only way out was 
through the door, and that was so heavy and thick, 
and so well fastened that it seemed unlikely that 
they could open it. Besides, their knives, and the 
button hook Jack had used, had been taken from 
them. 

“ Guess we’ll have to stay until they let us out,” 
was Jack’s opinion. 

As the night advanced the storm, which had been 
threatening for some time, broke in a sudden 
burst of wind and rain, and soon quite a sea was 
kicked up. The Polly Ann pitched and tossed, 
rolling in the trough of the big waves now and 
again, until, if the boys had not had strong heads 
and stomachs, they would have been very seasick. 


A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 


207 


As it was they were glad to get into the bunks and 
stay there. 

“ We must have hit Montauk Point that time,” 
remarked Jack, as there came a particularly violent 
pitch of the vessel. 

“ We hit something,” answered Nat sleepily. 
“If the ship goes down I hope they let us out of 
here.” 

“ I guess there’s no danger,” came from Jack. 
They were brave lads, not easily frightened, and 
what would have alarmed an older person or one 
less used to knocking about, had no terror for them. 
They even slept through the worst of the storm. 

When morning came Jupe brought them some 
breakfast. 

“Aren’t we going to be let out? ” asked Nat. 

“ Did you find out where we’re bound for? ” 
added Jack. 

“ I’s might sorry, gen’men,” spoke the colored 
man, visibly embarrassed, “ but I done got orders 
not to speak one word wif yo’ all. I’s jest got to 
keep quiet when I’s in heah I ” 

Jupe shook his wooly head solemnly and, having 
set down the breakfast, departed, locking the door 
after him. 

“ You’ll have to work the third degree on him,” 
suggested Nat. 


2o8 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Leave him to me/’ was all Jack said. 

The storm kept up all day, as evidenced by the 
rolling and pitching of the schooner, and the only 
person the boys saw was Jupe. He would not talk, 
and they began to feel quite miserable. True, they 
had plenty of food, but they were very lonesome. 
They would gladly have welcomed the appearance 
of Captain Reeger as a break in the monotony of 
their captivity. The bull’s-eyes in their cabin were 
of ground glass, and they could not see through 
them. 

Another day passed, and the only person the 
boys saw was Jupe, though they could hear voices 
in the captain’s cabin. They had no idea where 
they were, nor in which direction they were sailing. 

“ I can’t stand this any longer I ” exclaimed 
Jack, on the third day of their solitary confinement. 
“ We’ve got to find some way of escape.” 

“ We’ve looked everywhere,” replied Nat. 
“ The door is solid, so are the walls and the ceil- 
ing.” 

“ There’s the floor,” said Jack quietly. “ We 
haven’t looked there. I’m going to have a try. 
Just put a chair against the door, so they can’t 
open it from the outside, and we’ll do a little 
prospecting.” 

They braced the door, so it could not readily be 


A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 


209 


opened, and then, setting the table away from the 
middle of the room they lifted up the rug, and 
looked anxiously down. Something met their eyes 
that caused Jack to give a cautious cheer. 

“ Eureka! ” he exclaimed, “ We’ve found it! ” 

For under the rug was an iron ring, let into a 
square piece of flooring, which, from the crack all 
around it, was evidently meant to be lifted up. 

“ Catch hold there,” ordered Jack, and he and 
Nat inserted their fingers in the ring. They pulled 
with all their strength. 

“ She’s — coming ! ” panted Jack, and a moment 
later the square of flooring came up, revealing a 
dark hole, with a ladder extending down into it. 

“ Come on,” spoke Jack exultantly. 

“ Maybe it’s dangerous.” 

“ Can’t be any worse than staying here.” 

“ But it’s dark. We can’t see where we’re go- 
ing.” 

“ Take the lamp then.” 

Nat took the lamp from the hanging ring, 
lighted it, and followed Jack down the ladder. 
Though it was daylight, as they could see through 
the ground glass bulls’eyes, it was very dark in the 
hole. They soon determined that it was part of 
the hold of the vessel, though it did not appear to 
be used. Fortunately Jack knew something of 


210 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


the construction of ships, and he led the way to a 
hatchway by which the deck could be reached. 
They went up a ladder, and, before reaching the 
deck, paused to listen. They heard no voices, nor 
any one stirring about. 

“ We’re in luck,” whispered Jack. “ That hole 
was there all the while, and we never thought to 
look.” 

“ How do you suppose it came there? ” 

“ It didn’t come. It was made. Probably 
some of the mystery that seems part of this 
schooner. Likely they got rid of smuggled goods 
through that opening. But the question is, what 
had we better do ? ” 

“ Let’s chance it,” suggested Nat. “ They can’t 
do more that put us back. Guess Captain Reeger 
didn’t know about that hole in the floor.” 

“ Probably not. Well, come on.” 

Cautiously they went on, having blown out the 
lamp, and left it in the hold. They gained the 
deck, and, to their surprise, there was no one there. 
They cast quick looks about. They were on a big 
expanse of water, the open sea, very likely, and it 
was so calm that scarcely a ripple disturbed the 
surface of the ocean. There was only a long, gen- 
tle swell, on which the Polly Ann rose and fell. 
Her sails hung limp at the masts, and the booms 


A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS 


2II 


swung idly to and fro. It was a dead calm. The 
man at the wheel was asleep. 

“ Couldn’t be better,” whispered Jack. “ Now 
we’ll escape.” 

“ Come on, then,” urged Nat. “ Over to the 
boat. We’ll lower it, and get away. 

“ No,” spoke Jack quickly. “ The creaking of 
the davit pullies would arouse somebody. Besides, 
we don’t know where we are nor which way to row 
and it would be risky to put off in a small boat, 
which may have no provisions or water in it.” 

“ What are you going to do then? ” 

“ Hoist a signal of distress,” and Jack pointed 
to a flag at the truck of the mainmast. “ We’ll 
lower that and raise it again, union down. Some 
ship will be sure to see it, and com.e up to inquire 
what it means.” 

“And what’ll we do in the meanwhile? Go 
back to our cabin and wait? If we do Captain 
Reeger will say the flag was a mistake.” 

“ No, we’ll hoist the signal, and then hide here 
on deck until a ship comes up, and sends a boat. 
Then we’ll jump overboard. There ought to be 
plenty of steamers about here. There’s the smoke 
of one now,” and he pointed to the horizon, 
where a cloud of dark smoke could be seen. 

“ Go ahead,” said Nat. 


212 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Jack stole softly across the deck. He managed 
to lower the flag without making a noise. Then 
reversed it and hoisted it to the top of the mast. 

“ There,” he whispered to Nat. “ When they 
see that they’ll know something’s wrong and come 
up to see what it is. Now to find a good place 
to hide. I think in the small boat would be best.” 


CHAPTR XXV 


MAN OVERBOARD ” 

The two boys softly crossed the deck to where 
one of the small boats swung on davits. The 
rowing craft were covered with canvas, to keep 
the rain out, and Jack thought that if they could 
conceal themselves under this they might lie there, 
undiscovered, until help should come. 

They had almost reached the boat when, from 
behind a deck house, there stepped Jerry Chowden. 
Whether he or Jack and Nat were the most sur- 
prised would be hard to say. 

“ Why — er — why — ” began Jerry. 

Neither Jack nor Nat knew what to say. They 
were dumbfounded. The appearance of Jerry, at 
this time, meant that their plan would fail. 

“ How’d you get up here?” asked Jerry. 

“ Walked,” replied Jack calmly. “ Get out of 
our way,” he added, as if he and Nat had an im- 
portant errand to do. 

“ You’re trying to escape I ” exclaimed the bully. 
“ I’m going to call Captain Reeger.” 

213 


214 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ I wouldn’t, if I were you,” responded Jack. 

“Why not? You’re supposed to be kept 
locked up.” 

“ I guess you didn’t hear the latest news then, 
did you?” asked Jack. A desperate plan had 
come into his mind. If he could keep Jerry en- 
gaged long enough in conversation their signal of 
distress might be observed, for he could see that 
the steamer, the smoke of which he had noted be- 
fore, was coming closer. 

“What news?” inquired Jerry, his curiosity 
getting the better of his suspicions. 

“About Lavine and Hemp Smith.” 

“ No. I didn’t hear any news. What is 
it?” 

“ Come over here and we’ll tell you,” went on 
Jack. “ It will make quite a difference to Cap- 
tain Reeger when he hears it.” 

On the spur of the moment another thought had 
come to Jack. If he and Nat could get Jerry out 
of hearing of Captain Reeger and the crew, they 
might bind and gag the bully, and so prevent his 
giving the alarm. Jack wanted to get him in a 
distant comer. 

At first Jerry suspected nothing, and he started 
toward Jack. Then a cunning look came into his 
eyes. 


MAN OVERBOARD 


215 


“ I don’t believe you have any news,” he said. 
“ It’s a trick.” 

“ All right, then, if you don’t want to hear it, 
we’ll go tell Captain Reeger,” answered Jack 
coolly, as if it did not make the least difference in 
the world to him. He started toward Jerry. He 
had resolved on a desperate attempt to frighten 
the bully into silence, and he knew he could depend 
on Nat’s help. He cast one look behind him, to 
see if his chum was at hand, and then he advanced 
closer toward Jerry. 

But something made the latter afraid of Jack. 
Jerry backed up. As he did so he happened to 
gaze aloft, and there he saw the reversed flag. A 
little breeze shook out the folds, and displayed the 
union down. Then, like a flash, there came to him 
an idea of what the two prisoners had done. 

‘‘ You raised that signal! ” he cried. I’m go- 
ing to tell Captain Reeger! ” 

“ Hold on!” exclaimed Jack, in a desperate ef- 
fort to stop the disaster which he saw would over- 
take his plans. ‘‘ That’s part of the news I’m go- 
ing to tell you about ! ” 

“ No, you don’t ! ” replied Jerry. “ I’m on to 
your game! You want to catch me! You ran 
up that signal, and I’m going to warn Captain 
Reeger ! ” 


2i6 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Stop ! ’’ commanded Jack so savagely that 
Jerry involuntarily halted. “ If you leave this 
deck I — we’ll — we’ll punch you until you’re 
black and blue!” he threatened. “ And you know 
what we can do, too, Jerry Chowden 1 It won’t 
be the first time I’ve whipped you 1 ” 

Jerry ground his teeth savagely. He hated 
Jack, and the memory of the punishment our hero 
had inflicted on him was like bitter medicine to 
him. 

Jack and Nat had so moved about on deck as 
to get between Jerry and the companion way lead- 
ing to the captain’s cabin. So far they had spoken 
in low, but tense voices, and no one had come up 
from below nor had the man at the wheel 
awakened. For Jerry to rush past them now, to 
give the alarm, would mean that he would be 
severely pummeled, and he knew that Jack and 
Nat, in a short time, before the arrival of help, 
could inflict dire punishment on him. 

He looked about for a way of escape. He 
caught sight of the approaching steamer. Evi- 
dently those on the vessel had seen the signal of dis- 
tress, for the craft was headed right for the Polly 
Ann. Jack and Nat saw it too, and their 
hearts beat high with hope. If they could hold 
off discovery for fifteen minutes longer, and 


MAN OVERBOARD 


217 


leave the flag up for that length of time, they might 
be rescued. 

But Jerry was cunning, as well as cruel. He 
saw the hopeful look the boys cast toward the ap- 
proaching steamer, and realized what it meant. 
He looked past his tormentors. They were de- 
termined not to let him get by them without a 
fight. But Jerry had an idea. He was standing 
near the mast from which flew the reversed signal. 
He stepped to the ropes, with the evident inten- 
tion of lowering the reversed emblem. 

“ Don’t you dare touch that ! ” cried Jack. “If 
you do — ” 

But Jerry had already loosened the lines from 
the holding cleat. The flag was coming down. 

Hardly thinking of what he was doing Jack 
rushed at the bully. Jerry retreated, until he was 
against the rail of the schooner, on the port side. 
Jack followed him, endeavoring to control his 
temper, which had quickly risen as he saw his 
plans thus spoiled. 

“ You — you miserable coward! ” he exclaimed 
to Jerry. “ Why don’t you give us half a chance 1 
When we get away from here — ” 

He took another step toward Jerry. 

“ Don’t you dare hit me! ” whined the bully. 
“ I’ll tell Captain Reeger on you.” 


2i8 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Jack’s fists were clenched. Nat came up, hoping 
they might yet scare Jerry into silence. The 
steamer was drawing nearer. The reversed flag 
had caught at half-mast and hung there. 

Jerry aimed a blow at Jack. It was only a half- 
hearted effort, but the bully’s fist landed on Jack’s 
cheek. This was too much for our hero. Jack 
would give him all he wanted of that. Jack drew 
back his fist and sent a terrific blow in for Jerry’s 
head. The bully tried to dodge, but was not quick 
enough. 

Jack’s fist caught him full on the chin. It 
seemed to fairly lift Jerry from his feet, in which 
action he himself half aided by jumping up to avoid 
the blow. 

But he went too far, and, partly from his own 
spring, and partly from the blow, he toppled back- 
ward, over the railing. The next instant he had 
fallen into the sea with a great splash. 

“ Man overboard I Man overboard ! ” crie'd 
out Larson, the mate, coming on deck at that 
juncture, and Jack and Nat looked around to see 
him throwing off his coat and vest as he leaped to 
the side of the schooner. 

There was a rush of feet and Captain Reeger 
and Nick, followed by others of the crew, hastened 
on deck. At the same moment Jack looked at the 


‘‘ MAN OVERBOARD 


219 


signal of distress. It was slowly fluttering to the 
foot of the mast, and those aboard the steamer on 
which his hopes depended, seeing the signal low- 
ered, put her again on her course. Jack’s plan had 
failed, 


CHAPTER XXVI 


MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS 

Over the side went Larson. Jack and Nat 
hurried to the rail to watch the rescue, nor did Cap- 
tain Reeger, who must have been greatly surprised 
to see his prisoners on deck, order them away. 

“ How did it happen? Who is it? ” asked the 
commander quickly. 

“ I knocked Jerry overboard,” replied Jack. 

“What for?” 

“ He was taking my signal down.” 

“ Your signal.?” 

“ Yes, we were going to leave you.” And Jack 
smiled grimly as he motioned to the flag now on 
deck. 

Captain Reeger understood, but he said nothing 
more just then. He was too anxious about Jerry, 
for, though he did not like the bully, he did not 
want to see any harm come to him. Besides, 
Jerry was aboard as the representative of Lavine, 
220 



“The next instant he had fallen into the sea with a great 

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MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS 


221 


and there were peculiar reasons why Captain 
Reeger did not want to displease the rascally pro- 
moter. 

“ I wonder if Larson can get him,” mur- 
mured Jack, as he saw the head of the bully rise 
from the water. “ Shall I jump in? I didn’t mean 
to send him overboard.” 

“ Larson will get him, if anyone can,” replied 
the captain. “ He’s an expert swimmer. Guess 
Jerry isn’t much hurt. He’s striking out.” 

This was so. Jerry was no milksop, in spite of 
his bullying tactics, and though he was a trifle 
dazed by Jack’s blow, the sudden dip into the wa- 
ter revived him. He knew enough to hold his 
breath, and as soon as he came to the surface, he 
struck out. Still he might have had a hard time 
getting to safety, as his clothes held him down, 
had it not been for the big mate, who reached 
and supported him. It was fortunate that the 
sea was calm. 

In a little while the two were at the side of the 
ship, and had grasped ropes the crew hastily low- 
ered. Jerry was able to pull himself up, and 
Larson followed. 

“ I’ll get even with you for this. Jack Ranger I ” 
exclaimed the bully, as soon as he recovered his 
breath. “ You tried to kill me! ” 


222 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ I did nothing of the sort,” replied Jack. “ I 
meant to hit you, for interfering with me, and for 
striking me, but I didn’t mean to send you over- 
board.” 

‘‘Yes, you did, too! You wait! I’ll tell Mr. 
La vine ! ” 

Jack shrugged his shoulders and turned away. 
There was little use in continuing a conversation 
under such circumstances. 

“ I must know more about this,” spoke Captain 
Reeger sternly. “ How did you boys get up on 
deck, and what happened? ” 

“ I warned you we’d try to escape,” said Jack 
with a smile. He was beginning to accept his 
fate philosophically. 

“ Larson, go below and see how they got out,” 
ordered the commander. 

“ Oh, I’ll tell you,” spoke Jack. “ We found 
a hole in the floor, and climbed down into the 
hold.” 

“ A' hole in the floor ! I never knew it was 
there ! ” 

“ Neither did we until we looked and found it. 
It’s there all right.” 

“ Strange,” murmured Captain Reeger. “ La- 
vine should have told me about it. He knows the 
schooner better than I do.” 


MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS 


223 


Then he turned to Jack and Nat, and seemed 
sorry that he had spoken thus in their hearing. 

“ Come below,’* he said. “ I want to talk to 
you. Jerry, you had better get dry clothes on. 
And there must be no more of this fighting, do 
you hear, Jerry? If anything happens, call me.” 

“ I wanted to. Captain, but they wouldn’t let 
me. Then I thought of lowering the flag, and 
I did. The steamer stopped coming toward us 
then.” 

“ What steamer? ” 

Jerry pointed to the vessel that had veered off. 

“ Humph ! ” exclaimed the captain. Evidently 
he was not a little impressed by Jack’s expedient. 
“ Come to my cabin,” he said, leading the way. 

When Jack and Nat were in the captain’s apart- 
ment, the commander, taking a seat near them, 
and locking the door, said: 

“ Don’t you think you two had better give me 
your parole that you will not attempt to escape ? 

“ Do you think we had? ” inquired Jack. 

“ I do, for this reason. That if you don’t 1 
shall have to put you two into the brig, much as 
I dislike it. And I hardly need say that you’ll 
not get out of there. Come, now, you had better 
give me your word. If you do. I’ll promise to 
give you the run of the ship.” 


324 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


Jack seemed to be thinking. 

“ How long are we likely to be held pris« 
oners? ” he asked. 

“ I can’t tell you,” replied the captain frankly. 
“ I am waiting orders from Lavine. I may as 
well tell you that. We are cruising off here, wait- 
ing for him.” 

“ Suppose I give you a promise good for a 
week? ” asked Jack. 

“ What do you mean? ” 

“ I mean that Nat and I will promise not to 
try to get away for seven days. At the end of 
that time we’ll decide whether we want to try it 
again, and, if we do, we’ll give you fair warning.” 

“ That’s all right,” agreed the captain readily. 
“ It is understood that for at least a week you’ll 
not try to escape.” 

“ Unless we are taken off the ship before then,” 
stipulated Jack. “ If Lavine comes for us, and 
takes us to some other place, it’s all off.” 

“ Of course. You’re only bound by your word 
to me. It only applies to this ship.” 

“ That’s a go,” declared Jack firmly. “ Eh, 
Nat?” 

“ Whatever you say,” replied Jack’s chum, but 
he was not a little mystified as to what plan his 


MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS 


225 


companion had in mind, for it needed but a look 
at Jack to show that he had some scheme in his 
head. There was a repressed excitement in his 
manner, and an expectant look in his eyes. 

“ Then that’s settled,” remarked Captain Ree- 
ger. “You can come up on deck now. I’ll ex- 
plain to Nick, and the members of my crew, that 
you are to have the run of the ship for a week, 
on condition of your promise.” 

“Then we’re not to be put back in prison?” 
asked Jack. 

“ No, I’ll give you a nice stateroom off by your- 
selves, and you can do as you please.” 

“ We don’t care where it is,” answered Nat, 
“ as long as it isn’t near Jerry Chowden. We’d be 
always scrapping.” 

“ You’ll not be near him. I don’t like him any 
more — ” 

But at that point the captain seemed to think 
better of what he was about to say, and stopped 
suddenly. 

“ If you’ll come with me,” he went on, “ I’ll 
take you to your stateroom.” 

The boys were soon ushered into a neat little 
apartment with two bunks, a table, chairs and a 
small bathroom opening from it. 


226 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ This is what I want! ’’ exclaimed Jack. “ A 
bath! I haven’t had one since we went in swim- 
ming back at camp.” 

“ Camp ! ” repeated Nat. “ That reminds me. 
I wonder what has become of Sam, Bony and 
Budge? ” 

“ I guess they’ll get along,” replied Jack. 
“ Only they must be puzzled to know what be- 
came of us.” 

“ I should say so ! I wish we could see them 
again.” 

“ Maybe we will — soon,” spoke Jack, as Cap- 
tain Reeger went up on deck, telling Jack and 
Nat to follow when they got ready. 

“ Say, Jack,” exclaimed his chum, “ what do 
you mean by giving your word not to try to es- 
cape? We may have a good chance and it would 
be too bad to miss it.” 

“ We’ll have a better one if my plan works.” 

“How’s that?” 

“ You watch and you’ll see. I need the run of 
the ship to accomplish it, and the only way I can 
get it is to give my word. There’s going to be 
some queer doings aboard the Polly A nn soon, and 
we’ll have a hand in ’em.” 

“ What sort of doings? ” 

“ Doings that will make that colored cook think 


MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS 


227 


he’s seeing things daytimes as well as nights. Nat, 
I depend on him to help us escape, but first I’ve 
got to get him in the right frame of mind. You’ll 
have to help.” 

“ Twisted toothpicks ! that suits me I The 
sooner the quicker.” 

When Jack and Nat went up on deck, after 
quite a long talk in their new cabin, they were 
observed curiously by the crew, but no one spoke 
to them. Jerry was not in sight. The boys took 
advantage of their freedom to wander about the 
schooner. It was a trim little craft, and a beauty 
for sailing. The wind had sprung up since Jerry’s 
unexpected bath, and the ship was slowly slipping 
through the blue water. The two captives looked 
about, but there were no other vessels in sight. 

Jack and Nat strolled into the galley, where 
Jupe was busy among pots and pans. 

“ Well, Jupe,” observed Jack, with a wink at 
Nat, “ I told you we’d soon be free, and now 
we’re going to get ready to sink the ship.” 

“ Deed an’ is yo’-all gwine to do dat? ” asked 
the colored man. “ I s’pects I’d better tell Cap’n 
Reeger.” 

He started from the galley, evidently very much 
in earnest. 

“ Well, maybe if you’ll feed us well we’ll not 


228 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


do it,” stipulated Jack, who had his own reasons 
for becoming friendly with the cook. 

“’Deed den, an’ I will, Massa Jack! But 
doan’t yo’-all go fo’ to sink dis ship 1 Dis cook 
cain’t swim.” 

“ Well, all right, we’ll not. But what’s that 
in your hair, Jupe? ” 

“ In mah ha’r, Massa Jack? ’Deed an’ dere 
ain’t nuffin in mah ha’r.” 

“Well, there certainly is; something big and 
white,” insisted Jack. “ Isn’t there, Nat? ” 

Nat nodded, and the colored man put his hand 
up to his woolly pate. He felt nothing. 

“ Guess yo’-all is tryin’ to fool dis chile,” he 
said with a grin. 

“ No, I’m not. Look there, you’ve got an egg 
in your hair,” and, showing his hand, seemingly 
empty. Jack reached up and apparently took an 
egg from the negro’s head. It was a simple 
sleight-of-hand trick. 

“Good land! How’d dat git dere?” asked 
Jupe in great astonishment. 

“ I expect a hen must have laid It there,” re- 
plied Jack. “ Here, take it, and make another 
pudding with It.” 

He held the egg out to the cook, who reached 


MYSTERIOUS HAPPENINGS 229 

out his hand for it, when, to his surprise, it turned 
into a quarter of a dollar, which Jack gravely 
deposited in his palm. 

“ Well, well, Jupe, there are mysterious goings 
on in your galley,” commented Nat. “ An egg 
in your head, and it turns to money.” 

“ Good land a’ massy! ” cried Jupe, “ dis galley 
am suttinly bewitched! Heah! I doan’t want 
this yeah money ! ” 

“ Oh, it’s yours; you’ve got to keep it,” declared 
Jack. You didn’t know we were magicians; did 
you?” 

“No. Is yo’.all?” 

“ Surely,” replied Jack gravely. “ Aren’t we, 
Nat?” 

“ Of course.” 

“What’s that growing out of this potato?” 
went on Jack, picking one up from the basinful 
Jupe was peeling. 

“ Dere ain’t nuffin growin’ outer dat potato, 
Massa Jack.” 

“ Why, yes, there is ! Another quarter ! I de- 
clare, Jupe, you’ll be rich if you keep on.” 

The colored man scratched his head in amaze- 
ment. Certainly strange things were happening. 
Jack handed him the money. 


230 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ I done ’spects it’ll turn inter a pussy cat, cr 
a mouse purty soon,” he observed. 

“ No, that’s good money,” declared Jack, as 
he and Nat left the galley. “ We’ll see* you 
again.’' 


CHAPTER XXVII 


IN A HEAVY STORM 

Those were only the first of the queer 
tricks that Jack played on Jupe. That same day 
a fine pudding, intended for the evening meal, dis- 
appeared from the galley, right under the eyes 
of the cook. He reported the occurrence to Cap- 
tain Reeger, but did not dare mention that he 
suspected the boy “ magicians,” as he styled them, 
of having a hand in it. 

“ Dey suah am a ghostest in ma galley,” he 
declared. 

“ Nonsense,” said the captain. “ Probably 
some of the sailors stole it when you weren’t look- 
ing.” 

“ But dey couldn’t, Cap’n. I set it down fer 
jest a minute to cool, an’ I turned around. When 
I turned back it were gone, an’ dere wa’ant no- 
body neah de galley.” 

“ Are you sure you made a pudding? ” 

“ Sartin suah, Cap’n.” 

231 


232 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Well, say nothing about it. I may be able 
to discover who took it.’’ 

This was only the beginning. The experience 
the two lads had had at Washington Hall, in play- 
ing tricks and jokes, stood them in good stead in 
their campaign against Jupe. Before three days 
had passed Jupe was ready to believe anything the 
boys told him. And he dared not disclose to 
Captain Reeger how afraid he was of them, for 
they threatened him with dire punishment if he 
did. 

“Well, have you made your plans?” asked 
Nat of Jack one night in their cabin, after they 
had scared Jupe by causing mysterious raps to 
sound in his bunk room, where, because of his 
color, he had a place to himself, away from the 
other sailors. 

“ Yes, I’m almost ready to get away from here, 
Nat. I want to perfect a few points, and then 
I’m going to notify Captain Reeger that our week 
is up.” 

“ I suppose he’ll put us in some place that’ll be 
hard to get out of.” 

“ He’ll have to be pretty cute if he does. I’ve 
even arranged to get out of the brig, if he puts 
us there. But I don’t think he will. I fancy 


IN A HEAVY STORM 


233 


there’ll be something doing in a few days more, 
that may make a change in his plans.” 

“ How do you mean? ” 

“ Well, I rather think he expects a message from 
La vine. You know we’ve been cruising back and 
forth, near the same spot, for the last two days. 
We haven’t gone ten miles in a straight direction 
without tacking back. I think the captain has 
orders to wait around here for word from the 
gang, in case he did not hear from them before.” 

“ Maybe you’re right. Will that make any dif- 
ference to you? ” 

“ It may make it necessary to get away quicker, 
but I think we can manage it. Jupe will do any- 
thing I tell him now. He’d even go with us if we 
wanted him to.” 

“ You’re going in the boat; aren’t you? ” 

“ Yes, if Lavine doesn’t show up before wc can 
get away, and spoil my plans.” 

The boys had passed a not unpleasant time on 
the ship since giving their parole. The weather 
was fine, and there was nothing for them to do, 
save rest in the shade on deck, and eat their meals. 
Of course, their tricks on Jupe kept them occu- 
pied part of the time, and they laid their plans so 
well that no one suspected them. 

They only had occasional glimpses of Jerry. 


234 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

He seemed to want to avoid them, and never 
would come on the same part of the deck where 
they were. 

Two days later, when Jupe had found a note 
inside some dough he was mixing for bread, telling 
him to obey without question the orders of the 
“ two young magicians,’’ Jack told Nat that all 
was in readiness. 

“ Are you going to notify the captain that we 
intend to escape ? ” 

“ Sure. I don’t believe he can stop us 
now.” 

But something higher in power than the com- 
mander of the Polly Ann was to interfere with 
Jack’s plans. 

After supper that night Jack approached the 
captain, who was at the wheel. 

“Why, you’re sailing north-east I ” exclaimed 
Jack, as he looked at the compass, which he could 
read. 

“ That’s what,” admitted the captain, in a 
friendly voice, for of late he had been quite kind 
to the boys, though at times he was harsh. “ And 
I don’t mind telling you that I wish I wasn’t.” 

“Why?” 

“ Because there’s a storm brewing, and it’s likely 
to be a bad one.” 


IN A HEAVY STORM 


235 


“Where are we bound for? But I suppose 
you won’t tell? ” 

“Yes, I don’t mind. Things have changed a 
bit. La vine was to meet me off here, if he wanted 
me to put in shore and turn you over to him. 
But he hasn’t, and in that case, I was to proceed 
to a port in Maine. Part of my agreement with 
him was to the effect that you might now be told 
this much, and also send word to your parents 
that you were all right. But you can’t tell them 
where you are, or where you are bound. In fact, 
I shan’t tell you that last, so you won’t know.” 

“ Can we really send word home? ” asked Jack 
eagerly. 

“Yes, but I must see the message.” 

“ I suppose so. Whereabouts are we now ? ” 

“ About five miles off Portsmouth, New Hamp- 
shire. I’ve got orders to send a man in with a 
boat, to take your messages.” 

“ Then we’ll write ’em at once. This is good 
news — almost as good as being allowed to go. 
Are you going to wait for the man you send ashore 
in the boat ? ” 

“ No. He’s going to take a little gasolene gig 
we’ve got aboard, and he’ll meet Lavine. We’re 
to keep right on to a certain place in Maine. 
Then, I expect you’ll be allowed to go.” 


236 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Maybe we’ll go sooner than that.” 

“ What do you mean by that? ” demanded the 
captain angrily. 

“ I mean that the week is up, and we’re on 
parole no longer,” said Jack fearlessly. “ We’re 
going to leave you at the first opportunity.” 

The captain started. 

“ So you think you can get away from me; 
eh? ” he asked with a leer. “ Well, I’ll show you 
that you’re mistaken. I’ll clap you into the brig, 
that’s what I’ll do I” 

He had turned ugly almost in a moment. Jack 
could hardly understand it, but he was prepared 
for the worst. Jupe had promised to help them 
escape, even from the brig. 

“ Write your messages, and then get below ! ” 
ordered the captain harshly. “ I’ll fix you I I’m 
a tough old sea dog, as tough a one as ever sailed I 
I’ll fix you!” 

Jack and Nat entering a deck house, wrote brief 
messages to the folks at home, telling that they 
were safe, and soon expected to be with them. 
They knew it would be useless to give any details. 
The captain took the telegrams, and then, calling 
Nick, sent the two prisoners below. 

“ See that they’re locked in well,” ordered the 


IN A HEAVY STORM 


237 


commander. “ They think they can escape. I’ll 
show ’em ! ” 

In the brig, which was now their dungeon, the 
boys heard the puffing of the little gasolene launch 
as it left the schooner. The ship was then put 
before the wind, and forged ahead under a spank- 
ing breeze, which seemed to increase every minute. 

“ Say, it’s coming on to blow,” observed Nat 
to Jack, in their small and uncomfortable prison. 

“Yes. I expect we’ll get a storm. But never 
mind, the small boat’s staunch. We’ll risk put- 
ting off in her.” 

The pitching and tossing of the schooner in- 
creased, and even below deck as they were, the 
two boys knew that the storm was rapidly getting 
worse. 

“ Do you think we dare chance it? ” asked Nat. 

“ Got to. It’s our only hope. Jupe’ll be here 
about midnight to let us out. He’s managed to 
get a duplicate key. I told him if he didn’t we’d 
haunt his galley forever.” 

“ And after we get out? ” 

“ We’ll hide on deck until daylight, and make 
a dash to get away in the boat when the dog 
watch changes. Jupe will help us. He’s prom- 
ised, under penalty of being turned into a goat.” 

Several hours passed. The wind became a gale, 


238 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


and the manner in which the ship rose on the 
crests, and then shot down into the hollows, told 
that the waves must be very high. 

“ I don’t believe we’ll dare chance it,” said Nat. 

“ Maybe not. If it’s too rough for the small 
boat, we’ll have to wait until to-morrow night, 
though I don’t fancy staying here all day.” 

There was no doubt but what Captain Reeger’s 
anticipation, that they were to have bad weather, 
was fully verified. It seemed as if the sea and 
the wind were combining to do their worst and 
thwart the efforts of the two lads. 

“ There’s one consolation,” observed Nat. 
“ Our folks will know we’re all right; that is, if 
those telegrams get off.” 

“ Oh, I fancy he’ll send ’em. He wouldn’t 
gain anything by holding ’em back, especially after 
it was his own proposition. But it must be close 
to midnight. I wish Jupe’d come.” 

“Hark! Some one is coming,” said Nat, and 
the two boys listened, straining to catch some 
sound above the howl of the storm. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 

JACK SAVES THE CAPTAIN 

There was a rattling at the door of the brig 
in which they were confined. Some one seemed 
to be manipulating the lock. Jack sprang to the 
door. 

“Who’s there?” he cautiously whispered. 

“ It’s me, Massa Jack,” replied Jupe’s voice 
through the keyhole. “ I’s heah! I’m gwine to 
open de do’ but, fo’ de good land a’ massy doan’t 
turn me inter a goat ! I doan’t laik goats.” 

“ Open the door and you’ll be all right,” re- 
plied Jack. “ How’s the weather? ” 

“ Pow’ful bad, Massa Jack. Pow’ful bad.” 

“ Can we get away? ” 

“ I’s afraid not. De wind am suffin tremen- 
dous, an’ de waves mighty nigh swamped de 
schooner. Dere, I’s got dat lock open at las’. 
But doan’t yo’-all go fo’ to tell de cap’n dat I let 
yo’ out, er he’ll lambaste me.” 

“ We’ll not tell,” Nat assured him. “ Here, 
lock the door again, and put the key where you got 
239 


240 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

it. He’ll think we turned into smoke and got 
out through the keyhole.” 

“ He suah will,” replied Jupe, as he locked the 
door. “ Now wait jest a minute befo’ yo’-all 
comes on deck, so’s to gib me a chance to put dis 
key back, an’ git to mah bunk. Den he won’t 
suspect me.” 

“ All right,” agreed Jack. “ Hurry, though, we 
want to get away.” 

“ Pow’ful bad time to leave a ship,” murmured 
Jupe, as he disappeared in the semi-darkness of 
the hold where the brig was located. 

“ Well, we’re out, at any rate,” observed Nat. 

“ Yes, but I’m afraid it isn’t going to do us 
much good. Say, this is a fierce storm ! ” 

Now that they were out of their small prison 
they could hear more plainly the creaking and 
groaning of the ship’s timbers as the waves buf- 
feted her about. The schooner seemed to be on 
her beams’ ends several times, but she managed to 
right herself. Then she would bury her nose in a 
big wave, and appear about to go down to the 
bottomless depths. But, somehow, she managed 
to stagger up again, and continue on. 

“We can’t get away from here In a small 
boat,” said Nat, as he clung to a stanchion to 
keep his balance. 


JACK SAVES THE CAPTAIN 241 


“ Wait until we get up on deck and take a look 
around,” suggested Jack. “ It may not be as bad 
as it seems. It doesn’t take much of a blow to 
make a small schooner like this dance about.” 

“ But it will make a little boat dance 
worse.” 

“ Well, we’ll take a look.” Jack did not like 
to give up a plan, once he had started on it, no 
matter what the danger. 

The two boys listened. There were no sounds 
to be heard save the noise of the ship and the 
howl of the storm. Their escape had not been 
discovered, nor, they thought, was it likely to be 
very soon, for the attention of captain and crew 
was devoted to the ship. 

“ Come on,” said Jack grimly, as he led the 
way to the deck. They were both familiar with 
every part of the ship now, having had the run 
of it for a week. 

When they got outside, having emerged near 
the forecastle companionway, they were met with 
the full force of the storm. A strong wind whis- 
tled around them, and a dash of rain nearly 
blinded them. It needed but a glance ahead, at 
the big waves, which every moment threatened to 
engulf the schooner, to tell them that to risk an 
escape in a small boat would be utter folly. A 


242 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


little craft could not live for a moment in those 
tremendous seas. 

The Polly Ann seemed rushing at a big black 
wall, but which the boys knew was a mountain- 
high wave. It looked as if the small vessel would 
be dashed to pieces. But, ever as she was urged 
on by what little of the storm sails were displayed 
to the wind, she rose gracefully, and rode over 
the crest of the mass of water. 

Then came a descent on the other side, with the 
ship coasting on a smooth hill of foam, which 
hissed and seemed to reach up big, watery arms 
to pull her down. But the Polly Ann kept on. 
Her lights shone bravely out, and her staunch 
planks defied the battering of the waves. Her 
reefed sails, reduced to mere rags, held out against 
the powerful gusts, and though the rain came 
down like hail on her decks, the stout planks and 
the battened hatches kept those below dry and safe. 

There was no one on deck but the steersman, 
as Jack and Nat could see by a glance aft. The 
man, clad in yellow oilskins, was like a bronze 
statue, in the glare of the binnacle lamp, as he 
stood, with feet braced wide apart, to better hold 
the wheel which turned first one way, then the 
other, as the waves battered against the rudder. 


JACK SAVES THE CAPTAIN 243 


“ We can’t get away to-night,” said Nat, speak- 
ing aloud in Jack’s ear, for one had almost to shout 
to be heard above the- tempest. 

“ No,” answered Jack. “ But we’ll stay here 
until morning. Maybe there’ll be a chance then. 
We must find some place where they won’t locate 
us.” 

He had thought of this emergency in planning 
the escape, and he led the way to a small compart- 
ment, flush with the forward deck that closed in 
the forecastle, but which had an opening not far 
from the fore hatch. It had originally been used 
to house a donkey engine, when the schooner was 
in trade, but the machinery had been taken out, 
and the space left would hold two or three lads 
comfortably. Jack had seen this, when roaming 
about the ship, and, as it was not kept locked, he 
decided to use it, if necessary. 

The time had now come when it could be put 
to use, and he and Nat crawled in and closed the 
sliding door. It was not even as comfortable as 
the brig had been, for they were more subjected 
to the pitch and roll of the ship, and the place, 
from disuse, had not been kept in repair, so that 
it leaked quite badly. 

The wind, which was cold, in spite of the fact 


244 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


that it was summer, searched out many a crack, as 
did the rain, and the two lads were soon nearly 
wet through and shivering. 

“Thumping thingamabobs ! ” exclaimed Nat. 
“ There’s a stream of water trickling down my 
back.” 

“ Never mind,” consoled Jack. “ It might be 
worse. I hope this storm lets up by daylight.” 

“ Supposing it doesn’t? ” 

“ I don’t know what we’ll do. Have to stay 
here, I reckon, though they’ll probably find us, for 
they’ll make a careful search. If they don’t, we’ll 
stay here until we have a chance to get away. 
Luck seems to be against us.” 

“ It sure does,” agreed Nat. “ But can we stay 
here without anything to eat? ” 

“ Wouldn’t you starve for one day, for the sake 
of getting away from here ? ” 

“ Of course. But it’s mighty uncomfortable.” 

Through the storm rushed the Polly Ann. She 
seemed to bid defiance to the elements. The boys, 
from their hiding place, could catch no glimpse 
of the riot of wind, wave and rain, but they could 
feel from the tremors of the ship, that she was 
plowing her way through a mass of tumultuous 
water. 

“I wonder where we are now?” asked Nat, 


JACK SAVES THE CAPTAIN 


245 


after they ’ had crouched in silence for awhile, 
during which time more rain came in, and the 
wind seemed to blow harder than ever. 

“ Must be quite a way up the Maine coast by 
now. WeVe been scooting along at a good rate, 
and we were off Portsmouth some time ago. But it 
doesn’t make much difference where we are — it’s 
what’s going to happen to us. I don’t believe 
this storm is going tO: let up inside of two or three 
days.” 

“ And we can’t stay here all that while.” 

“ No, I suppose not,” was Jack’s rather gloomy 
answer. 

There came, if possible, a louder howling of 
the gale, a fiercer burst of rain, and the ship 
seemed to receive a blow from a wave that set 
her aback. At the same moment there sounded the 
shrill cry of the helmsman. 

“ Something’s happened,” said Jack quickly, as 
he pulled back the sliding door of their hiding 
place. 

There was a rush of feet on deck, plainly heard, 
as there now came a lull in the storm. Lights 
gleamed here and there, and, because of the foam- 
capped waves, and what seemed to be a phos- 
phorous glow to the water, the scene on deck 
was visible to the two lads. 


246 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


They saw Captain Reeger, clad in his oilskins, 
and followed by the big, Swedish mate, rush to 
the mainmast. Then came the commander’s 
hoarse voice calling : 

“ All hands on deck to repair damage ! ” 

“ Come on ! ” cried Jack. 

“ They’ll see us and catch us.” 

“ What of it? Something’s happened, and they 
may need our help! There isn’t a very large 
crew on board. Come on I ” 

Thus urged, Nat followed Jack from the former 
engine house. They could see a cluster of figures 
about the mainmast, and from the sailors’ ac- 
tivity, it seemed as if something had happened to 
the gaff and boom. 

As the two boys rushed forward, not caring 
whether or not they were observed, they saw that 
the burst of wind had torn the sail loose, and that 
the canvas was flapping about in the gale while the 
big boom was swinging to and fro, like an im- 
mense flail, threatening all in its path. 

“ Cut the ropes! Lower the throat and peak 
halyards ! ” cried Captain Reeger. “ Get it out 
of the way! Look out for the boom! Take a 
turn with a rope around it, some of you, and make 
it fast. It’ll tear the mast out if you don’t ! ” 

The men labored heroically, but it was hard 


JACK SAVES THE CAPTAIN 


247 


work, for the ship, made more unsteady by the loss 
of the driving power of the mainsail, had fallen 
off, and was almost in the trough of the sea. 

The boys were now close to the scene of 
wreckage, but no one seemed to notice them. 
There was nothing they could do, but they stood in 
readiness. 

Here! ” cried the captain suddenly to one of 
the sailors, “ you’re cutting the wrong rope I ” 

He stepped forward to show what he meant, 
and, without thinking, got right in the path of 
the swinging boom. An instant later the big piece 
of timber, swinging in an immense half-circle, 
swept straight at him. 

“ Look out I ” yelled Jack, and his cry* was 
echoed by all the others. The captain turned to 
get out of the way, but, just then, a rope, falling 
from somewhere overhead, struck him, tangled up 
around him, and held him fast. A moment later 
and he would be swept overboard by the boom, 
knocked unconscious, in all likelihood, so that he 
could not save himself. 

Jack took all this in like a flash. He saw the 
boom swinging toward the captain, and, glancing 
about for some means of averting the disaster, 
he saw a strong rope. 

He caught it up, and, with a memory of the 


248 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


skiU he possessed with the lasso, which he had 
learned while on his western trip, he cast a bight 
of the cable around the end of the boom as it flew 
past him. 

“ Here, Natl ” he cried, “ catch hold! ” 

Nat grabbed an end of the rope, and Jack took 
a turn around a cleat. The rope strained as the 
force of the flying boom came on it, but the stout 
hemp held, and the big, swaying timber was 
stopped when but two feet away from the captain. 

He soon freed himself from the entangling rope, 
stepped out of the way of further danger, and 
then, when the sailors quickly made fast the boom; 
he walked up to Jack. 

“ You saved my life,” he said simply, but there 
were tears in his eyes, and a curious break in his 


voices 


CHAPTER XXIX 


CAPTAIN REEGER’S CONFESSION 

The sailors soon made good the damage caused 
by the blowing away of the sail. Another was 
hoisted in its place, and even the small area that 
was displayed made a great difference in the action 
of the schooner. She swung around before the 
wind, and was soon flying along as she had been 
before. The storm, now that the wind and waves 
had seemingly been satisfied by inflicting as much 
damage as they could in a short time, appeared 
to settle down to a steady blow. 

“Will you come below with me?” asked the 
captain of Jack, and he did not mention, what 
must have been to him a surprise; namely, to see 
the prisoners free. 

Jack and Nat followed the commander to his 
cabin. It was no easy task to get there, for the 
ship seemed to be standing at an angle of forty- 
five degrees most of the time, and the floors sloped 
correspondingly. 

“ Sit down,” said the commander, when he had 
249 


250 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


closed the door. “ I have something I want to 
say to you.” 

“If it’s about how we got loose, we’re not going 
to tell you,” replied Jack quickly, wishing to shield 
Jupe. 

“ I don’t care a hang about that, if you’ll ex- 
cuse the slang,” spoke the captain. “ I’m natu- 
rally a plain-spoken person, but of late I’ve been so 
badgered about, and kept under — and — ^and — ” 

Captain Reeger seemed much excited, and to be 
laboring under the stress of some feeling. Rising 
from his chair he began pacing about the cabin, 
no easy task, either, but he managed to keep his 
legs, for he was, to use his own expression, an “ old 
sea dog.” 

“You saved my life just now,” he went on, ad- 
dressing Jack. “ If it hadn’t been for you I’d be 
at the bottom of the sea by now.” 

“ Oh, I guess some one else would have caught 
the boom,” answered Jack. 

“No matter. You did. That’s what counts. 
I know. I’m not the brute you think I am. I’ve 
got feelings. I — I once had a boy like you. 
He’s dead now. Oh I Oh ! Why did I ever get 
in the power of that rascal I ” the man exclaimed 
bitterly, and he sat down in a chair, and covered 
his face with his hands. 


CAPTAIN REEGER’S CONFESSION 251 


“ Can we — that is — what’s the — maybe we 
can help you,” spoke Jack sympathetically. 

“ No one can help me 1 ” exclaimed the captain 
desperately. “I’m in his power, and I’ll be in it 
until I die! That’s what makes me a brute! 
That’s what makes me what I am! Oh! If 1 
could only get free ! ” 

The two boys looked at each other. They were 
rather alarmed by the captain’s manner. 

“ There ! ” he said, after a moment. “ I’m 
making a ninny of myself. I’ll be better pres- 
ently. Don’t mind me. I brought you here to tell 
you something,” he went on. “ Something that 
concerns you.” 

“ There’s no hurry about it,” spoke Jack. 
“ We’re in no rush. We’re all right. We can 
look after ourselves.” 

“ I should judge so,” replied the captain, “ from 
the manner in which you manage to get out, no 
matter where I put you. But you must have had 
help this time. Never mind. I’m not asking 
what it is. I — I just want to tell you that I 
didn’t do this thing of my own choice. I didn’t 
want to keep you aboard here. I don’t want to 
hold you prisoners.” 

“ Then why do you do it? ” asked Jack, very 
naturally. 


252 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Because I can’t help myself. I’m in the toils 
of a villain — as bad a man as ever lived I I 
can’t break away from him! He has me in hir 
power! ” 

“Is it Lavine?” asked Jack quickly. 

“ Lavine ! Yes ! How did you know ? ” 

“ I didn’t. I just guessed at it, from knowing 
what sort of a man he is.” 

“ Do you know him ? ” 

“ Only since I discovered his bogus printing 
plant, but my father does. He tried to get my 
father into trouble, but did not succeed.” 

“ What’s that? ” cried the commander. “ Do 
you mean to tell me any one could get the best of 
Jonas Lavine ? ” 

“ My father did, and I expect to,” replied Jack 
coolly. 

“ Then maybe you can help me ! ” exclaimed the 
captain. “ I’ll tell you my story.” 

“ You needn’t, if it distresses you,” said Jack. 

“ I don’t mind. Especially to the one who 
saved my life. But, before I begin, I want you 
boys to understand that I never would have done 
what I did to you — carry you away in this ship — 
and treat you as I have — had it not been that 
Lavine had a hold over me which I could not break. 
I wanted to be kind to you, but I knew if I did it 


CAPTAIN REEGER’S CONFESSION 253 


would be reported to him, and he would make it all 
the harder for me. That — that sneak Jerry 
Chowden is a spy. So is Nick, only he’s not so 
bad. Lavine has some hold over him, too.” 

This, then, thought Jack, explained the curious 
moods of the captain — why he was kind at one 
time, and harsh at another. 

“I am in La vine’s power, for a crime I nevec 
committed,” went on the captain, speaking loudly 
to be heard above the storm. “Yet he holds evi- 
dence, which, if presented in any court, would con- 
vict me. I have no witnesses to prove my in- 
nocence, but he could make me seem guilty. He 
laid his plans well. He did so in order that he 
might get me in his power. 

“ I have been a sea captain for many years. I 
used to sail my own vessel, but, through a series 
of misfortunes, I lost it. Then I had to seek 
employment. I happened, by accident, to meet 
Jonas Lavine, when I was looking for a ship. He 
offered me one, but he wanted me to engage in 
some illegal work. I refused, and he pretended 
to give it up. I believed him, and took command 
of his ship. Then, too late, I found what a scoun- 
drel he was. He had, by a trick, forced me to en- 
gage in the very work which I had refused to do. 

“ After that he had me in his power, for he had 


254 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

men under him who would swear that I knowingly 
engaged in unlawful work. I saw no way out. 
To leave his employment would mean that I never 
could get any other, for he would keep track of me, 
and make the false charge against me. There was 
but one thing to do — to take service under him. 
Since than I have been employed by him, doing his 
shady work for him, but this is the worst I ever 
did — help to kidnap two lads. I objected 
strongly when I found out what his plan was, but 
he made me agree to it. He also made me 
promise to treat you harshly, but I hadn’t the heart 
to do it. Now you know my story. I could not 
help telling you, after you saved my life, for I 
want you to understand that I am forced to act as I 
have.” 

The captain ceased. Outside sounded the roar 
of the storm. Jack and Nat, deeply affected by 
what they had heard, and feeling a great pity for 
the unfortunate captain, gazed at him curiously. 

“ Perhaps I can help you,” said Jack at length. 
“ My father knows this scoundrel Lavine, and I 
know Hemp Smith. I could prefer several 
charges against him, and I will, too, when I get 
back home. As for Lavine, my father said he was 
liable to arrest for the swindle he tried to perpe- 
trate on him.” 


CAPTAIN REEGER’S CONFESSION 255 


“What’s that you say?” asked the captain 
quickly. “Is Lavine liable to arrest? I didn’t 
know that. I thought he was too foxy ever to be 
caught.” 

“ My father has evidence against him,” went on 
our hero. “ I will ask him to use it, too. Cap- 
tain,” he added quickly, “ why can’t we work to^ 
gether? ” 

“ What do you mean? ” 

“ I mean that if you’ll help us. I’ll help you. 
I’ll see my father as soon as I get home, and have 
him prefer charges against Lavine. Then he’ll 
find some way of getting you out of his power. Is 
it a go? Will you help us if we help you? ” 

“ I will I ” cried the captain, extending his hand 
to his former prisoner. “ Jack Ranger, it is a go I 
We’ll work together I You’re free! I’ll defy 
Lavine and his tools! There! I feel like a man 
again. I’ve been a coward all along. I can’t 
thank you enough. I’ll defy him ! ” 

“ Then let’s get right to work,” proposed Jack. 
“ Set us ashore at the nearest port, and I’ll tele- 
graph my father.” 

“ We’ll make land as soon as this storm lets up,” 
replied the captain. “ Boys, you are now free ! 
The run of the ship is yours, and you can escape 
any time you want to! ” 


CHAPTER XXX 


JERRY THREATENS 

Captain Reeger seemed quite a different per- 
son now that he had made a confession, and entered 
into an alliance with Jack, to aid him and Nat. 
There was a brighter look on his face, and even the 
danger of the storm did not seem to worry him. 

That there was danger was apparent to all, for 
the commander, after his conference, went on deck, 
and announced that he intended to remain there 
until morning. 

“ Jack, you and Nat can go to your own cabin 
— the one you had when on parole,” he said to 
the recent prisoners. 

“ Suppose any one questions us? ” asked Jack. 

“ Send them to me. I’m the bbss here.” 

There was a new decision in the captain’s words. 
He was indeed, as he said, master now, not only of 
the ship but of himself. 

“Well, this is some different, isn’t it?” asked 
Nat, when he and Jack were left alone. 

256 


JERRY THREATENS 25 y 

“ I should say so. Queer, how it all turned 
out.” 

“ Oh, it’s your usual luck. Look how you got 
the best of Professor Punjab, alias Hemp Smith, 
when he had stolen the card, without which we 
never could have gotten to Orion Tevis.” 

“ Well, I am usually pretty lucky,” admitted 
Jack. “ I only hope it keeps up, and that we get 
out of this storm safe. It certainly is a hummer.” 

But, down in their comfortable cabin, the boy^ 
did not notice the blow so much as they had on 
deck. It was necessary for the crew, under the 
direction of Captain Reeger, to be on the alert all 
the while, however, as the least inattention might 
have sent the schooner to the bottom. 

“ I vote we go and make Jupe give us something 
to eat,” cried Nat, after a pause. “ How about 
you ? ” 

“ I’m with you. Come ahead.” 

They made their way to where Jupe presided 
over the galley, for they had heard Captain Reeger 
say that the cook had been aroused, to make hot 
coffee for the sailors who were com.pelled to spend 
their watch on deck. 

Good land a’ massy I What am yo’-all 
doin’ heah? ” exclaimed the colored man, when he 


258 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


caught sight of Jack and Nat. “ Has yo’ es- 
caped? ” 

“ We concluded to stay on board, so as to get 
some more of your pudding,” explained Jack. 
“ We like It, Jupe.” 

“But good land a’ massy! Ef Cap’n Reeger 
finds yo’-all heah, what he gwine to do? What 
he gwine to say? I axes yo’-all dat, an’ I wants 
to know. What he gwine to say? What he 
gwine to do? ” 

“ Oh, we’ve put the kibosh on him,” explained 
Nat easily. 

“ What am dat kibosh? ” 

“ That the same thing as the flipsyflopsydipsy- 
dopsy,” went on Nat, with a wink at Jack. “ We 
have put a mysterious spell on him, and he can’t 
even see us walking around. Go ahead now, 
Jupe; give us something to eat. We’re starved.” 

“ An has yo’-all done gone an’ put a spell on de 
cap’n? ” 

“ That’s what we have.” 

“ Land a’ massy! I believe yo’ has,” remarked 
the cook, as he poured out some hot coffee for the 
boys, and set out a plate of sandwiches. “ I be- 
lieve yo’-all has! Yo’ boys am capable ob most 
anyt’ng, yo’ suah am ! ” 


JERRY THREATENS 


259 


It was no easy matter to eat, and at the same 
time brace against the pitching of the ship, but the 
two lads managed it. When their hunger was 
somewhat appeased they left the galley, where it 
was warm and cosy, and went out on deck. It was 
all they could do to hold on, so slanting was the 
vessel, and so strong did the wind blow. 

“ You’d better go below, boys,” called Mate 
Larson In his hearty tones, as he caught sight of 
the lads. “You bane blown overboard up here.” 

“ I guess the captain must have told him we 
were free,” said Jack, In Nat’s ear. “ And I 
reckon we’d be better off In our cabin.” 

Through the night the ship labored on. The 
storm did not abate, and when morning dawned, 
cold and gray, the Polly Ann was still scudding 
along before the blast, almost under bare poles. 
The seas were still mountain high, and the wind 
and rain were as fierce as ever. 

“ Well, boys, how are you standing it? ” asked 
Captain Reeger, as he came below to snatch a 
hasty breakfast. 

“ All right,” replied Jack. “ I hope you haven’t 
repented of your bargain.” 

“ Not a bit of It. I’m done with Lavine. But 
I depend on you to help me.” 


26 o jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ And we will. How soon do you suppose it 
will be before we can go ashore and send a mes- 
sage? ” 

“ Some time, I’m afraid. There’s no good har- 
bor hereabouts. There are too many islands to 
risk running in during such a storm as this.” 

“ Did you send those other messages to our 
folks? ” asked Nat. 

“ I certainly did. I’m a man of my word, even 
though I did enter into this mean deal against you,” 
as the quick answer. 

“ How far up do you think we’ll have to run? ” 
asked Jack. 

“ It’s hard to say. Pretty well up the Maine 
coast, I’m afraid. If we get in this side of East- 
port we’ll be lucky. Well, I must go on deck 
again. It’s getting worse instead of better, if I’m: 
any judge.” 

The boys got breakfast and then began to think 
of going on deck again, to look at the weather. 
They were glad they had not ventured out in the 
small boat. They probably never would have 
reached shore. 

As they were going along a passageway, intend- 
ing to ascend the companion stairs and reach the 
deck, a door of a stateroom near which they were, 


JERRY THREATENS 


261 


opened, and Jerry Chowden thrust his head out. 

“ You — you here I ” he exclaimed. 

“ Yes; any objections? ” Inquired Jack coolly. 

“ Why aren’t you locked up? ” asked the bully. 

“ Oh, we got tired of it, and concluded to come 
out.” 

“ I’m going to tell Captain Reeger you’ve es- 
caped ! ” declared Jerry. “ He’ll lock you up 
again ! ” 

“ I don’t believe he will,” remarked Nat. 

“He won’t; eh? We’ll see about that. I 
know what orders Mr. Lavine gave about you.” 

“You ought to. You were sent on board to 
play the part of a sneak and spy,” said Jack in con- 
tempt. 

“Don’t you call me those names!” snapped 
Jerry. 

“ They’re true,” came from Nat. 

“ I’ll fix you ! ” declared the bully vindictively. 
“ I’ll have you put back In the brig.” 

He hurried from his cabin, though he was so un- 
used to making his way about the ship when It was 
tossing thus, that he had to fairly crawl. 

“ Let’s follow and see what he does,” sug- 
gested Nat, and he and his chum took after the 
bully. 


262 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


They saw Jerry climb to the deck, and seek out 
Captain Reeger. Approaching quite close, they 
were able to hear what he said : 

“ Do you know those boys are out? asked the 
bully insolently of the commander. 

“ Yes,” was the short answer. 

“ But you had orders to keep them locked up, 
and Fm going to tell Mr. Lavine. He’ll fix you 
and them tool ” 

“Look here!” exclaimed Captain Reeger. 
“ Fd have you know that — ” 

Then, seeming to feel it beneath his dignity to 
quarrel with such a fellow as Jerry, he stopped. 
But Jack understood what he would say. Our 
hero determined to give Jerry his quietus. 

“ Look here, Jerry Chowden,” he broke in sud- 
denly. “ You go below, and don’t come up on 
deck again, until I give you leave I ” 

“ Wha — what?” asked Jerry, too astonished 
to grasp what Jack said. 

“ You go below and stay there, I said. If I 
catch you on deck again, without my permission. 
I’ll give you a worse threshing than the last one, 
and you know what that means. Now go I ” 
Jerry could scarcely believe his ears. 

“ Captain Reeger, I appeal to you,” he said. 


JERRY THREATENS 263 

“ I want protection from him. Fll tell Mr. 
La vine.” 

“ Don’t appeal to me, you — you toad I ” ex- 
claimed the commander. 

“ Tell Lavine I ” cried Jack. “ His day is over. 
He hasn’t anything more to say.” 

“He hasn’t; eh?” cried Jerry with a sneer. 
“ We’ll see about that.” 

“ You go below I ” ordered Jack. “ Lavine, 
Hemp Smith and Company haven’t any more to 
say aboard this craft. Clear out now. When we 
want you we’ll send for you I ” 

Jerry look as if he would resist, but Jack started 
for him, and with a whining cry the bully turned 
and ran as well as he could, considering the pitch- 
ing ship. 


CHAPTER XXXI 


THE POLLY ANN WRECKED 

“There,” said Jack, with a grim smile, as he 
turned back, “ I don’t think he’ll bother us again.” 

“ I’m glad you treated him that way,” com- 
mented the captain. “ I wanted to say that, and 
more, to him, but I don’t like to quarrel with boys. 
It was bad enough to make it hard for you.” 

“ Well, we’ll not hold it against you,” said Jack; 
“ will we, Nat? ” 

“ No, indeed. But I’m anxious to get ashore. 
This has been quite an ocean cruise for us. Jack.” 

“ Indeed it has, and, in some ways I’m not sorry 
it happened.” 

“ I fancy Hemp Smith and Lavine will be, 
when we get after them,” said Nat. 

“ Yes, but they may escape. They’re slippery 
customers, especially Hemp. I don’t know so 
much about Lavine. By the way. Captain, do you 
know anything about his printing plant — what he 
does with it? ” 

“ Not much. Something illegal, you can make 
264 


THE POLLY ANN WRECKED 265 


up your mind to that. He couldn’t do a straight 
business if he tried.” 

During the day there was a little lull in the 
storm, so it was easier to get about the ship, and 
the sailors had a chance to make some needed re- 
pairs. The two chums saw nothing of Jerry, who 
evidently took to heart the warning Jack had given 
him, and kept to his stateroom. 

Nick, the other member of Lavine’s particular 
gang, did not say anything to the boys. Captain 
Reeger informed them that he had told him of al- 
lowing the prisoners their freedom, and Nick had 
expressed his satisfaction. He declared that if 
the captain would stand by him, he, too, would 
throw off the yoke of La vine. 

“ He didn’t treat us so bad,” commented Jack. 
“ We’ll help him, if we get a chance.” 

As night again settled down it found a small, 
weary band of sailors on the Polly Ann, They 
had labored all day, and all the previous night, and 
they were almost worn out. The storm showed 
no signs of abating, and the wind chopped around, 
and blew a regular north-easter, cold and penetrat- 
ing. 

“ We’re in for another bad night,” predicted 
the captain as he finished his supper, and donned his 
oilskins, for a long watch on deck. 


266 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Do you think we’re in any danger? ” asked 
Jack. 

“ One always is on the ocean in a storm,” was 
the somewhat solemn answer. “ Particularly on 
this coast. If this wind holds we’ll have our own 
troubles weathering the gale. If we get too close 
to shore I can’t beat off and then — ” 

It isn’t pleasant to think of,” said Jack, 
“ We’ll hope for the best.” 

“ That’s right,” agreed the commander, and he 
spoke gravely. “ Davy Jones is always waiting 
for new messmates, but maybe we’ll fool him this 
time,” and with that he went up on deck. 

There was nothing much for the boys to do but 
go to their berths. They had slept but little the 
night before, owing to their plan to escape, and to 
the storm, and they were quite weary. They sat 
up awhile in their stateroom, discussing the many 
strange things that had come to pass since they 
started camping. 

“ I don’t believe we’ll sleep much, with the way 
the Polly Ann is carrying on,” remarked Jack 
whimsically. “ One would think, by her name, 
that she was a person in middle life, who had 
settled down, but she’s behaving like a giddy young 
girl, at her first dance.” 

“ She certainly is dancing,” agreed Nat, as he 


THE POLLY ANN WRECKED 267 


fetched up against a partition with a resounding 
bang. “ But Tm sleepy enough not to mind that.” 

“ I hope it’ll be fair weather to-morrow,” 
sighed Jack, as he said good-night to his chum. 

How long the boys had been sleeping they did 
not know, but they were suddenly awakened by 
feeling a tremendous shock go through the ship. 
It was as if she struck a solid stone wall, and then, 
like some living thing, sprang back, aready again 
to batter down that which stopped her progress. 
The vessel quivered from stem to stem. 

“ What’s that? ” cried Nat, springing from his 
berth. 

“ I don’t know,” answered Jack, who was al- 
ready out on the floor, holding onto the bolted- 
down table to keep his balance. Then through the 
darkness of the night, and above the roar of the 
wind, the swish of the waves and the patter of the 
rain, came the hoarse cry: 

“All hands on deck! We’ve struck! All 
hands on deck! ” 

“ The Polly Ann is wrecked! ” cried Nat. 

Jack said nothing, but began hastily pulling on 
what few clothes he had taken off. Nat followed 
his example. 

“ All hands on deck! ” 

Again the hoarse cry rang out. 


268 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Man the boats ! All hands man the 
boats! ” 

In spite of themselves a fit of trembling seized 
the two lads. It was a fearful thing to be 
awakened in the middle of the night to find the 
ship foundering. Quickly they finished dressing 
and left their stateroom. 

“ Come on deck! ” called Jack to Nat. 

Nat followed him. In the darkness of the pas- 
sageway he collided with some one. 

“ Oh, we’re sinking! ” cried a voice they recog- 
nized as that of Jerry Chowden. “ We’ll be 
drowned ! ” 

“ You will be if you stay down here bawling 
like that! ” cried Jack. “ Get on deck! ” 

“ All right, I will ! Don’t leave me ! Please 
don’t leave me. Jack! I’ll be a friend of yours 
after this ! Save me ! ” 

“ I don’t want you for a friend, but come on I ” 

The bully, crying and whimpering, followed the 
two chums. As they were ascending the compan- 
ionway there came another tremendous crash, fol- 
lowed by a sound of splintering and rending tim- 
bers. The poor Polly Ann quivered and trembled 
like a creature in agony. 

Once more the cry rang out, and they knew it 
was the captain’s voice : 


THE POLLY ANN WRECKED 269 


“ Man the boats I All hands on deck! Where 
are you, boys ? ” 

“We’re coming!” answered Jack stoutly. 
“ Here we are! ” 

Such a scene of confusion as met their eyes when 
they reached the deck! The fore- and the main- 
masts had gone by the board, and the wreckage 
hung over the side, pounding against the already 
exposed ribs of the wrecked ship. This much they 
saw in the dim glow from several storm lanterns 
that had been hung about when night fell. The 
decks were strewn with wreckage, and there was a 
curious look about the planks and slope of the deck 
that Jack could not at first account for. Then, as 
he looked again, he saw what caused it. The ship 
had almost broken in two, and was driven high 
up on some reef. Over the bow the waves were 
breaking, and, as the craft settled lower and lower 
into the cruel sea, the water washed farther aft. 

“ Lively now, my men ! ” cried the captain* 
“ Are you all ready with that port boat? ” 

“ Aye, aye, sir,” answered Larson, the mate. 

“ Then lower away.” 

“ Lower away it is, sir,” replied the mate, as 
he gave the order to the men with him, and they 
began paying out the ropes that ran through the 
davit pulleys. 


270 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

The wrecked ship gave a great lurch, as if she 
was going under, 

“ Lively, men I We haven’t a minute to spare I ” 
cried the captain. 

“ Lively it is, sir,” answered the mate stolidly. 
Nothing, it seemed, could shake his iron nerve. 

The boat dropped. Then, whether one of the 
men loosed his hold of the rope, or whether the 
lurching of the vessel caused the cables to foul 
was never known, but, at any rate, the bow of the 
small boat became loosed from the pulley hook, 
and dropped into the sea. A moment later a big 
wave arose alongside the ship, seized on the craft 
and fairly twisted it free from the other davit. 
The next moment it was dashed against the side 
of the schooner, and broken into kindling 
wood. 

A groan went up from the crew, stout-hearted 
though they were. But the mate kept his head. 
Captain Reeger had gone below for a few of his 
possessions, the ship’s papers, and chronometer. 

“ Lower the starboard boat, an’ we must bane 
quick wit her,” called the mate, in his broad 
Swedish tongue. Then something which is liable 
to happen whenever there is a shipwreck or a fire 
took place on the Polly Ann. There was a panic. 
The men knew, with the loss of one boat, there 


THE POLLY ANN WRECKED 


271 


would not be room for them all in the only remain- 
ing one. 

“ Hold on! ” cried the captain, rushing on deck 
at that juncture. “ What’s the matter? ” 

“ Port boat smashed,” replied Jack. 

“ Well, there’s room enough in the other, and 
my dinghy will hold three on a pinch. We’ll all 
get off.” 

But the captain’s words had no calming effect. 
The men were wild with fear. The mate tried 
to stop the rush, but could not. They fairly tore 
at the ropes, and, before any one could stop them, 
they had lowered the boat. Fortunately it was 
calmer on that side, as the schooner offered some 
protection against the wind and waves. 

Several sailors leaped down into the boat. The 
mate, seeming to lose his head at the prospect of 
being left behind, followed. 

“ Push off I ” he cried. “ Push off I ” 

“ Wait! Wait for us! ” screamed several. 

“ Don’t leave me behind! ” yelled Jerry, making 
for the rail. “ Don’t leave me to drown ! ” 

“ Come back here ! ” shouted the captain. 
“ You’ll swamp the boat! ” 

But it was too late. Jerry, and several of the 
sailors had leaped. They missed the boat and 
splashed into the water. 


272 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Come to my dinghy ! ” cried Captain Reeger 
to Jack and Nat, the only ones left. 

They started toward it, but before they could 
reach it a tremendous wave lifted the small craft 
clear of the davit hooks, and dashed it against the 
stern of the schooner, smashing the frail boat as 
the other had been broken to bits. 

A moment later there came a terrible grinding, 
rending sound. The Polly Ann seemed to lift 
herself up, as if making a brave effort to get clear 
of the cruel rocks that had impaled her. But it 
was utterly useless. The heaving waves only fixed 
her still firmer on the reef. 

Then came a more violent tremor. The rend- 
ing, grinding sound became louder. The deck 
seemed to be slipping away from under the feet 
of the boys. 

“ She’s going to pieces I ” cried the captain. 
“ She’s breaking up I She’ll go down in another 
minute ! Jump, lads ! Jump ! ” 

Jack and Nat needed no second bidding. They 
ran to the rail, followed by the captain. There 
was nothing now to be seen but a foam-crested 
waste of great waves, rising and falling. The 
small boat was out of sight. Whether it floated or 
had sunk with its living freight, they could not tell. 

The Polly Ann settled lower and lower into 


THE POLLY ANN WRECKED 273 


the sea. To remain longer meant to be engulfed 
in the whirlpool that would be created by the suc- 
tion when she sank. To jump was their only hope, 
yet such a frail hope as it was ! 

Jack stood up on the rail, and Nat followed him. 
They gave one look behind them, at the ship which 
had been their prison, and from which they were 
now so strangely freed, and leaped into the sea. 
Captain Reeger followed them, and, a moment 
later they heard, above the howl of the wind, the 
final crash, as the timbers of the Polly Ann slid 
from the reef and were scattered upon the billows, 
while the heavier parts of the hulk sank beneath 
the bosom of the ocean. 


CHAPTER XXXII 


1 


ADRIFT AT SEA 


Down under the swirling waters plunged Jack 
Ranger. Nat followed him, and Captain Reeger, 
too, disappeared beneath the waves. But the three 
were good swimmers, and, handicapped though 
they were by wet clothing, and by the tumultuous 
billows, they managed to reach the surface, and 
struck out strongly. 

“Natl Nat! Where are you?’* called Jack, 
as soon as he could get his breath. 

“ Here, Jack,” replied his chum. “ Are you 
all right?” 

“Yes. Let’s keep together. Can you see the 
captain? ” 

“ I’m here,” shouted the commander of the late 
Polly Ann, “ Over this way, boys. Keep clear 
of the wreck. You may get hit by a heavy tim- 
ber.” 

Jack swam toward the sound of his companions’ 
voices. As he bujffeted the waves he felt his hand 
strike against something solid. He grasped it, and 
274 




ADRIFT AT SEA 


275 


found, when he had pulled himself up out of the 
water a little way, that it was a big piece of wreck- 
age, which had been torn loose from the schooner. 
It was broad and nearly flat, and though it was 
low In the water. It formed a most excellent raft. 
Jack climbed up on it, and found It supported him 
comfortably, and would hold several more. 

Here ! ” he cried. “ Over this way ! Fvc got 
a raft I” 

It was so dark he could sec nothing, but to 
guide his companions he continued to shout, and 
presently, attracted by the sound of his voice, Nat 
and the captain reached the raft, and climbed 
up. 

“Well — this — is — better — than — being 
— out — there — Jack,” panted Nat, for he was 
exhausted from his battle with the waves. 

“ Yes, it’s better than the boat,” said the cap- 
tain, as he sat down on the raft, and tried to peer 
through the darkness. “ That craft will never 
reach shore. I’m afraid.” 

“ Do you think we will? ” asked Jack anxiously. 

“ Well, we’re quite a way out, but this is a solid 
part of the ship, and it will hold together for a 
long time. We’re likely to be washed off, though. 
Look out I Here comes a big wave ! ” 

The boys just had time to grasp hold of projec- 


276 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

tions on the pile of planks and timber, when they 
were deluged by a mass of water that poured down 
on them from a big wave which broke over the 
raft. 

“ Many more of them and we’ll be done for,” 
commented Nat. “That was fierce! ” 

They shook the water from their eyes, and 
caught their breaths. Once more the captain 
peered about. 

“ No sign of them,” he murmured. He seemed 
to be listening, though to what, the boys could not 
tell. They could barely make out each others’ 
forms. 

“ I believe the wind is dying out,” said Captain 
Reeger at length. “ Boys, the storm is passing. 
Thank God, for it has done its worst! ” 

There was no doubt about it; the wind was not 
nearly so strong as it had been, but they had failed 
to notice this in the excitement of leaping from the 
ship, and getting on the raft. But the gale no 
longer howled overhead. True, it blew some, but 
each gust was less strong than the preceding one. 
The sea, however, would not subside so quickly, 
for it had been deeply stirred, and the heaving 
billows tossed the raft, first towards the black 
heavens, and then down into the depths. 

“ If we can hold on until morning I think we’ll 


ADRIFT AT SEA 


277 


be safe/* spoke the captain. “ Hold fast, boys; 
here comes another wave I ” 

It came, but it was not quite so bad as the pre- 
vious ones. Still Nat was nearly washed off, only 
Jack grabbed him in time. 

“ Thanks, Jack,” was all Nat said, when he had 
recovered his breath, but he meant a great deal 
more than that. 

Through the long night, they clung to the raft. 
Whither they drifted, they knew not. They were 
wet through, cold, hungry and thirsty, but they 
knew their only hope was that bit of wreckage 
adrift in the midst of the tumultuous sea. 

How long the hours were I The darkness 
seemed as if it would never pass. Then, so grad- 
ually that they could hardly tell when it began, 
there appeared a faint grayness to the inky night 
that enfolded them. 

“ It’s getting daylight,” said the captain softly, 
and his voice startled the boys, so strange did it 
sound. 

They tried to peer about them, to see where they 
were — how close to the reef on which the 
schooner had been wrecked — or to discern if the 
boat was in sight, but they could see only a veil 
of mist, which became more dense as the dawn 


came nearer. 


278 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Fog! exclaimed Captain Reeger. “ There’s 
going to be a heavy fog. There generally is up 
this way. We must be pretty near the fishing 
banks.” 

“ But if there’s a fog it will be calmer, won’t 
it? ” asked Nat. 

“Yes, there’s no wind now, but that makes it all 
the more dangerous. We may be run down by 
some steamer.” 

This was a new terror, and there was no way 
of averting it. The boys stared through the fog, 
that was now thick about them, as if, at any mo- 
ment, the prow of some ocean liner might loom; 
up above them, to cut them down. 

“ Maybe we could tear off some pieces of plank, 
and use them for oars,” suggested Jack. “ There 
are several loose boards. But which way shall we 
row?” 

“ Away from the sun, if we want to reach 
shore,” answered the captain. “ It’s worth trying. 
See if you can get some planks loose.” 

The boys managed it, but the pieces proved 
clumsy oars even when they had been roughly 
whittled into shape with Captain Reeger’s big 
knife. They managed to row with them, however, 
after some oarlocks had been improvised from 
pieces of wood forced into the cracks of the raft. 


ADRIFT AT SEA 


279 


“ Now for shore! ” exclaimed Nat. 

He and Jack rowed as well as they could, and, 
by noting a bit of floating seaweed they ascertained 
that they were making slow progress. But it 
would take them days to reach the shore at that 
rate, and they knew it. 

“ Pity we didn’t think to stock this part of the 
ship with food and water before we started,” said 
Jack with an uneasy laugh. He was beginning to 
be very thirsty, for he had swallowed some of the 
salty ocean water. 

“ I’m afraid we’ll have to stand it,” murmured 
the captain. “ This fog may help us though. 
It’s getting thicker every minute. Take out your 
pocket handkerchiefs, boys, and spread them out. 
They’ll get saturated with the dampness, and you 
can squeeze out a few drops of water. I’ve known 
sailors to exist for days on that.” 

The fog, indeed, was almost a rain, so heavy 
was it. All about them was a dense white blanket, 
through which they could not see more than a few 
feet. Soon three handkerchiefs were hung up on 
a rude framework of sticks, stuck in cracks on the 
raft. And anxiously did the survivors wait for 
them to become wet enough so that a little 
water, if only a few drops, might be had from 
them. 


28 o jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“I’m going to try mine!” exclaimed Nat at 
length. “ I can’t wait any longer.” 

He twisted his handkerchief in his hands, hold, 
ing it above his mouth. A little stream of water 
trickled into his throat. 

“ My! But that’s good! ” he cried. “ Only I 
wish it was a pailful.” 

The others followed his example, and felt much 
refreshed. Then they hung the linen squares up 
again. They were hungry and cold, but no one 
spoke of this. There was no use dwelling on their 
miseries. 

Slowly they forced the clumsy raft along. All 
about them was silence — a white wall of silence. 
The waves had greatly subsided, and their raft 
floated better. They could sit down on it without 
being wet, except by the fog, which was fairly rain- 
ing on them now. 

“ How many miles do you suppose it is to the 
shore? ” asked Jack of the captain. 

“ About fifteen or twenty.” 

“ It will take us two days at this rate,” mur- 
mured Nat. 

The captain nodded his head. He knew what 
it meant — that thirst and hunger must be endured 
all that time. Could they stand it? 


ADRIFT AT SEA 


281 

“ If we only get sight of the bo>at,” began Jack, 
“ we could — ” 

He did not finish. Instead he stopped and lis- 
tened. Off to the left sounded a cry. 

“ Hark! ” whispered Jack. He and Nat ceased 
rowing. 

“Help! Help I was the call. 

“ It’s the boat! It’s the boat! ” shouted Nat, 
standing up. 

“ This way! This way! ” yelled Jack. “ All 
together now,” he added, and they combined their 
voices into a cry to guide whoever had called. 

Several anxious minutes passed. Then came the 
cry again. 

“ Help ! Help ! Will no one save me ! ” 

“ That’s not the boat,” remarked the captain 
gravely. “ That’s some one all alone. Over 
here ! ” he cried. “ We’re on a raft ! ” 

They waited. Suddenly the fog seemed to lift 
a little. They dimly discerned a black object float- 
ing on the water. 

“There it is!” cried Jack. “Row, Nat! 
Row!” 

They dipped their clumsy oars into the water. 
The black object floated nearer to them. They 
saw that it was a piece of a mast, with some one 


282 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


clinging to it. A little later they could see who 
it was. Looking over the top of the round piece 
of wood, to which he was clinging, Jerry Chowden 
stared at those on the raft. 

“ Save me I ” he cried, and then he slipped off 
and disappeared. 


CHAPTER XXXIII 


THE RESCUE 

Jack Ranger plunged from the raft. His sud- 
den leap made the frail craft, if such it may be 
called, careen to one side, and Nat and the cap- 
tain nearly rolled off. But they caught themselves 
in time. 

Anxiously they peered at the spot where Jerry 
had gone down. There was a commotion in the 
water, and, a moment later. Jack reappeared, hold- 
ing Jerry, who seemed unconscious. Jack struck 
out for the raft, which, fortunately had not 
drifted beyond his sight in the fog. 

“ Give him a hand,” directed the captain to Nat. 
“ ril get on the other side here, so the raft won’t 
tip again.” 

They managed to get Jerry on board. A quick 
examination showed that he was breathing. 

“ He’s only weak, I guess,” said the captain. 

Jerry opened his eyes. 

“ Water — water,” he murmured. 

Without a moment’s hesitation Jack took his 
283 


284 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

own handkerchief from where it was hanging to 
collect the rain that was now descending, and 
squeezed the precious fluid between Jerry’s lips. 

“ More,” murmured the half-unconscious lad. 

Nat handed over his handkerchief, and so did 
Captain Reeger, though they were both very 
thirsty. The fresh water revived Jerry, and he 
sat up. 

“Where are we?” he asked. 

“ Adrift somewhere on the Atlantic ocean, on 
part of what was the Polly Ann^* replied Jack. 

“What happened to you?” inquired Nat. 

“ I missed the boat when I tried to jump into 
it,” explained Jerry, “ and I grabbed hold of that 
piece of mast. I’ve been clinging to it ever since, 
though I was afraid the sharks or whales would 
get me.” 

“ There are no sharks around here,” said the 
captain, “ and as for whales, they’d be more 
frightened of you than you could be of them.” 

“ Is there anything to eat here? ” asked Jerry 
in a whining tone. “ I’m awfully hungry.” 

“ So are we,” replied Jack grimly, “ but I guess 
you’ll have to wait awhile. The cook’s left,” he 
added, with a touch of his old-time humor. 

It was now quite light, but they could not make 
out the sun through the curtain of mist, nor could 


THE RESCUE 


285 


they see more than a few feet in any direction. 
The sea was quite calm, and they could see bits of 
wood floating about them, which seemed to indi- 
cate that they were not far from the scene of the 
wreck. 

“ Why don’t you row ashore and get something 
to eat? ” asked Jerry, as he noted the oars the 
survivors made. 

“ We’re tired,” announced Nat shortly. 
‘‘ We’ve been rowing for quite awhile. When 
we heard you yell we thought it was from the 
boat.” 

“ I was yelling a long time,” whined Jerry. 
“ I thought no one would ever hear me. When 
will we get to shore. Captain ? ” 

“ I don’t know. Suppose you and I row a 
bit, Jerry? Nat and Jack have done their 
share.” 

“ I’m too — too weak.” 

“ You’ve got to help,” said the commander 
sternly. “ It isn’t fair to have them do all the 
work. Come on, now, take hold of one of those 
oars.” 

Jerry was a strong, hulking fellow, but he dis- 
liked exertion of any kind. Still there was no help 
for it, and he had to take up the piece of board 
that served to propel the raft slowly. 


286 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ I’m thirsty,” he said, when he had rowed a 
few strokes. 

“ The water tank isn’t filled yet,” announced 
Jack, “ and when it is, it’s our turn to drink. Yq^ 
had your share. Hang out your handkerchief, 
just as we do.” 

It was raining quite hard now, and the prospects 
for a fair supply of fresh water were better. 
Jerry extended his handkerchief on some sticks, 
and began to row again. 

“ If we only had some sort of a cask we could 
catch a supply of water, and have it when it 
stopped raining,” said Nat. 

“ Look over there! ” exclaimed the captain sud- 
denly. “ That looks like an empty biscuit tin 
from the wreck.” 

They looked where he pointed, and saw, bob- 
bing up and down on the gentle swell, a large, 
square tin, such as biscuits and cakes come in. 
They headed the raft for it, and when they came 
close enough Jack hauled it aboard. 

“ There’s something in it,” he announced. “ I 
hope it’s something to eat.” 

“ It hasn’t been opened,” added Nat. 

Sure enough, the tin was sealed, there being 
strips of parafine paper around the edges of the 
cover. This had served to keep the water out. 


TPIE RESCUE 


287 


and the tin, being air tight, had floated with 
its contents intact. An instant more and Jack, 
with the captain’s knife, had opened the box. 

“ Crackers I ” he cried. “ It’s full of crackers ! 
We shan’t starve now I ” 

“ Pass me some,” spoke Jerry eagerly. 

“ Hold on there,” interrupted the captain. 
“ I’ll serve out this mess. Boys,” he added 
solemnly, “ there’s no telling how long we may 
be on this raft. We’ll have to be careful of 
our provisions. I think I’d better deal them out.” 

“ That suits me,” replied Jack, and Nat nodded 
an assent. Only Jerry looked glum, but no one 
minded him. 

“ I think I’ll empty the box,” the captain went 
on. “I’ll put the crackers in a fairly dry place 
on the raft, and we can store some water in the 
box. What do you say? ” 

They agreed that this was the best plan, so 
the commander placed the crackers in a depression 
in the highest part of the raft, and covered them 
with pieces of board. 

“ They’ll be a trifle damp, but that won’t hurt 
them,” he explained, “ and we’ll have a fine tin for 
water. Now I’ll rig up a system to catch some.” 

He wedged the box on the raft and then, using 
the four pocket handkerchiefs, made a sort of 


288 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


basin which served to catch the rain, which ran 
down the linen squares into the tin. Of course, 
there was not much water that got in, but even 
a little bit, the captain knew, would preserve life 
for a long time. 

This much done, he passed around some of the 
crackers, and it is safe to say, that nothing the 
survivors of the wreck of the Polly Ann had ever 
eaten, tasted any better than those same crackers. 

“ Now we’re in fairly good shape,” announced 
the captain, as he again took up what passed for 
an oar, and directed Jerry to begin rowing. 

All that day the fog wrapped them in its white 
mantle. Fortunately the rain kept up, and they 
managed to catch the tin full of water. They 
took turns at the oars, but whether they were 
approaching shore, or getting farther away, it was 
hard to tell. There was now nothing to indicate 
where the sun was, though in the early dawn, the 
light in the east, contrasted with the blackness of 
the west, had served as a guide. Now they had 
to “ go it blind.” 

Night settled down — a black, hopeless night. 
A cold wind sprang up, and the sea became 
choppy. Still the big raft rode well, and there 
was not much danger. But their plight seemed 
Very hopeless. 


THE RESCUE 


289 


“ We’d better not row any more,” advised the 
captain. Let’s rest until morning. Then the 
fog may lift.” 

How they lived through the night they never 
could tell clearly afterward. It seemed like a 
terrible dream to them. But the hours passed, 
and once more they saw the light in the cast. 
At the first glow the captain stood up, to stretch 
his cramped legs, and see if he could observe any- 
thing. He uttered a joyful exclamation. 

“ Boys ! ” he cried. “ The fog is lifting. I 
can make out a shore line! ” 

The three lads sprang to their feet, all their 
weariness, and hopelessness forgotten. 

Yes, the fog was lifting. The light in the east 
grew, and assumed a golden glow. There were 
no fog clouds — no wreaths of vapor — to ob- 
scure it now. Then a bright yellow rim appeared, 
and grew in size. It tinted the dancing waves of 
the sea. 

“ The sun! ” cried Jack. “ There’s the sun! ” 

Surely no ancient worshippers of the golden 
orb of day ever welcomed the sight of the lu- 
minary any more than did these on the raft. 

Up it came, higher and higher, a golden ball 
of fire, warming them and filling their hearts with 
hope. Then they turned and looked to the west. 


290 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

Yes, there was land plainly in sight, but what \i 
was they could only guess. 

“Row! Row!” cried Jack. “We’ll soon be 
ashore! ” 

“ It will take quite a while,” spoke the captain. 
“ Suppose we hoist a signal? I think we will be 
rescued sooner if we do.” 

They fastened their handkerchiefs and coats to 
the two planks that had served as oars, and stuck 
them upright in cracks in their raft. 

“There,” said the captain; “somebody will 
very likely see them. All along the coast there 
are life saving stations, and some beach patrol is 
sure to sight our signals before long. We’ll watch 
for a boat.” 

Their fast diminishing crackers and water were 
served out, but they ate joyfully. The sun 
warmed them, and life now seemed worth living. 
But how anxiously did they watch for the sight 
of a small black speck, which would mean a boat 
putting off to them. 

At last it came. At first it seemed no larger 
than a cask or barrel, but it grew in size until they 
made it out to be a small launch, coming toward 
them with all speed. 

“We’re rescued! ” exclaimed Jack joyfully. 

“ Yes, our troubles are over,” said the captain. 


THE RESCUE 


291 


“ I suppose you boys will be glad to get back 
home.” 

“ Won’t we, though! ” cried Nat. 

“ Home! ” said Jerry. “ Are you going to let 
them go? Aren’t you going to keep them for 
La vine? ” 

“Well, I guess not!” exclaimed the captain 
wrathfully. “ I’m done with Lavinc for good 
and ever! ” 

“ No, you’re not ! cried Jerry angrily. “ You 
must hold these boys, or I’ll tell him you’ve let 
them go ! He wants them held! ” 

“ Then he’ll have to come and hold us,” said 
Jack grimly. 

“I’ll warn him how you’ve played him false, 
Captain Reeger,” threatened the bully. “ He’D 
fix you ! ” 

“And I’ll fix him!” cried Jack. “Now you 
let up on such talk, Jerry Chowden, or I’ll pitch 
you overboard! ” and Jack looked as if he meant 
it. 

Jerry retreated to the extreme end of the raft. 
The others watched the approach of the boat. 
They could hear the puffing of the motor now, 
and caught sight of the life savers, in their white 
summer uniforms. 


292 lACK RANGER^S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ Raft ahoy! ” called the man in the bow of 
the boat. “ Do you want to be rescued? ” 

Do we? *’ cried Jack. “ Well, I guess we 
do!” 

And a little later the four survivors were in the 
motor craft, telling their experiences to the life 
savers, while the swift little boat was headed 
toward shore. 


CHAPTER XXXIV 


CHOWDEN COMES TO GRIEF 

They landed at a little town not far from; 
Eastport, Maine, and there was quite a crowd of 
the villagers down at the beach to see them come 
in. For, as the captain had hoped, the signals on 
the raft had been seen by a beach patrol, and 
rumors of a wreck had quickly spread, while the 
life savers were getting ready to go out. 

“ Now come right with us, and we’ll take care 
of you,” said the captain of the life guards. “ I 
expect you’re good and hungry. And I reckon 
you want to send word to your folks.” 

“ That’s what we do, and some other messages 
besides,” added Jack. “ Is there a telegraph 
office here? ” 

“ One right in town, but you want to eat and 
get dry first, don’t you? ” 

“ We’re pretty dry,” said Captain Reeger, 
““ but some grub wouldn’t go amiss; eh, boys? ” 

“ No, indeed,” replied Nat. 

Jerry said nothing, but, at the mention of a tel- 
293 


294 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

egraph office a strange look had come into his 
eyes. 

“ We’ll have to watch out for him,” said Jack 
in a low voice to Nat. “ He means mischief. 
We mustn’t let him get to the telegraph office 
first.” 

“ Why, do you think he’d tell La vine to come 
here and get us?” 

“ No, I’d like to see La vine. Hemp Smith or 
any of that gang catch me now. What I want 
to do is to catch them. I want to wire dad to get 
after the rascals, but if Jerry gets ahead of us 
and warns them, they’ll run away.” 

“ That’s so. I’ll keep my eye on him. I don’t 
think he’ll do anything until he eats, if he’s as 
hungry as I am.” 

The survivors were well taken care of by the 
life savers. How they did enjoy the meal pre- 
pared for them, after they had lived for nearly 
two days on crackers and water! Never had 
victuals tasted so good. 

“ Did you hear anything of a boat from the 
Polly Ann coming ashore?” asked Captain 
Reeger, of Captain Addison, who was in charge of 
the life saving station. 

“ Some boat came ashore yesterday, about ten 


CHOWDEN COMES TO GRIEF 295 


miles down the beach,’* was the reply. “ I didn’t 
hear any particulars though.” 

“ I guess that was from my ship,” commented 
Captain Reeger. “ I hope the crew was all 
saved.” 

“ You must have had a tough time,” observed 
one of the guardsmen. 

“ We did,” answered Captain Reeger, and he 
gave more details of the wreck. 

Meanwhile Jack and Nat had been watching 
Jerry. They saw him edging his way toward the 
door, and, a little later, he went out. The life 
savers did not notice him, as they were busy listen- 
ing to Captain Reeger’s account of the wreck. 

“ Come on, Nat,” said Jack quickly. “ He’s 
up to some mischief. We must stop him.” 

They hurried outside, just in time to see Jerry 
running at top speed toward the village, from 
which the life station was distant about a mile. 

“After him!” cried Jack. “He mustn’t be 
allowed to send any message to La vine.” 

They took after Jerry. The bully heard them 
coming, and increased his speed. But he was no 
match for Jack and Nat, who were two of the best 
runners at Washington Hall. They soon over- 
took him. 


296 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


“ Where you going? ” asked Jack. 

“ None of your business. Get out of my way, 
Jack Ranger,” for Jack had planted himself in 
front of Jerry. 

“ Not if you’re going to send a warning to 
Lavinel ” 

“ What’s that to you ? I guess I can send him 
a message if I want to.” 

“ No, you can’t! For once in their lives Hemp 
Smith, Lavine and Company are going to get their 
deserts.” 

“ You let me pass I ” demanded Jerry. 

“ Not just now,” retorted Jack, tantalizingly. 
“Nat, can you look after him, while I take a 
sprint, and settle the hash of that bunch of 
crooks? ” 

“ Sure,” replied Nat. 

Jack started off on a trot toward the telegraph 
office, while Nat stood in front of Jerry to prevent 
him from following. 

“ You let me pass, or it’ll be the worse for you,” 
threatened the bully. 

“ It can’t be much worse than I’ve gone through 
with in the last two weeks!” remarked Nat, 
“ You’re going to stay right here or else turn back 
to the station. You can’t send any messages to- 
day, Jerry Chow den ! ” 


CHOWDEN COMES TO GRIEE 297 

“ I can’t, eh ? ” 

“ No, you can’t! ” 

Jerry was not so much afraid of Nat as he was 
of Jack. He advanced, doubling up his fists, 
ready for a combat, and he was almost more than 
a match for Nat, who was not as strong as 
Jack. 

“ Are you going to let me pass? ” demanded the 
bully once more. 

“No, I’m not!” 

“ Then take that!” 

He aimed a blow at Nat’s head, but the latter 
was too quick for him, and stepped back. Jerry, 
however, followed him up, and succeeded in de- 
livering a heavy fist in Nat’s side. It took his 
breath. 

Taking advantage of this, Jerry swung around 
and started off up the beach, toward the town. 
Nat recovered himself quickly and raced after him. 

“ Come back here ! ” he cried. 

“Not much!” replied Jerry with a laugh. 
“ I’ll warn Lavine now ! ” 

Nat took after him. However much of a 
match Jerry was for Nat in a fistic battle, he could 
not out-run him. Nat caught the fleeing bully by 
his coat and pulled him back. 

“ Let go of me! ” roared Jerry, swinging around 


^8 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


and aiming a savage blow at Nat. Jack’s chum 
dodged, and, instinctively struck back. 

How it happened he never could tell afterward, 
but his fist caught Jerry full on the chin with a 
sharp crack. Nat had put all his force into the 
blow, and it was an effective one. 

Jerry’s head snapped back and, a moment later, 
he toppled backward on the sand, unconscious. 
Nat had knocked him out cleanly, and scientifically. 
There was no danger of Jerry sending a message 
to Lavine right away. 


CHAPTER XXXV 


THE RASCALS CAUGHT — CONCLUSION 

Nat was not a little frightened at what he had 
done. Jerry lay so quiet, and looked so pale, that 
his antagonist feared he had seriously hurt him. 
Then the memory of having seen boys like that 
at Washington Hall, after a light, reassured Nat. 

He ran down to the water’s edge, and scooped 
up some of the salty liquid in his hands. This he 
dashed in Jerry’s face. The bully opened his eyes. 

Where am I ? — What happened? ” he asked. 

I had to stop you from sending that message,” 
explained Nat. “I — I didn’t mean to hit you 
quite so hard.” 

‘‘Yes, you did and I’ll get square with you,” 
threatened the bully, but he was whining. 

He rose to his feet and staggered along the 
beach. Nat was ready for him, and, though he dis- 
liked fighting, he made up his mind he would pre- 
vent Jerry going to the telegraph office, if he had 
to knock him down again. But Jerry had no in- 
tentions of risking another contact with Nat’s fist. 

299 


300 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


He turned the other way, and hastened down the 
beach, in the opposite direction from the village. 

“ I guess it’s safe to let him go,” mused Nat. 
“ It’s ten miles to the next town, and before he 
can get there Jack will have his message off. 
Guess I might as well go and tell him.” 

He found Jack coming back from the village. 

“ Did you send the telegram? ” said Nat. 

“ Yes. What happened to Jerry? ” 

“Well, he concluded he didn’t want to warn 
La vine,” was Nat’s cool answer, but Jack made 
him go more into details. 

“Good boy!” he exclaimed, when his chum 
had finished. “ That’s what he deserved. Well, 
I guess our troubles are about over.” 

“ Do you think they’ll catch those rascals? ” 

“ I hope so. I wired dad to connect with Mr. 
Skidmore and see if he couldn’t get trace of them 
somewhere. Captain Reeger said they would 
probably be somewhere around Sickonsonnett, as 
they expected to make another printing headquar- 
ters in that neighborhood, after we were out of the 
way.” 

“ But I thought Lavine was going to meet the 
schooner somewhere along the coast, and take us 
off.” 


THE RASCALS CAUGHT 


301 


“ Probably he was, but he isn’t now. They 
may not nab Lavine and Hemp Smith at Sickon- 
sonnett, but they’ll get some of the gang, and make 
them tell where the others are.” 

“ I don’t know about that. Hemp Smith is a 
pretty slippery customer.” 

“ Well, we’ve done the best we can, anyhow. 
I’ll wager the folks will be glad to hear from us 
again. I sent a wire to your father and mother.” 

“ That’s good. Now let’s go back to Captain 
Reeger.” 

They found the commander of the late Polly 
Ann rather anxious about them. 

“ Where’s Jerry? ” he asked. 

“ Vamoosed,” replied Jack, and he told what 
had taken place. “ How about starting for home, 
Captain? ” 

“ Well, we can start, but I don’t know how far 
we’ll get. I haven’t any money. Have you ? ” 

“ Very little. I found a water-soaked bill in 
one pocket and I used nearly all of that to send 
the telegrams with.” 

“ That’s too bad.” 

“ Nat hasn’t any money, either,” went on Jack. 
“ It’s gone down with the schooner, I expect.” 

** Now don’t let lack of money worry you,” in- 


302 JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 


terposed Captain Addison, of the life saving sta- 
tion, overhearing some of the talk. “ We’ll lend 
you carfare home.” 

“ Then we’re all right,” said Jack. “ Come on, 
Captain.” 

“ Where? ” 

“ Ho'me with us, to Denton, until this affair is 
all straightened out.” 

“ I’m afraid your father and aunts won’t be 
very glad to see the man who helped kidnap you 
and Nat.” 

“ Oh, pshaw ! Don’t let that worry you. I’ve 
been in worse trouble than this. Come on.” 

“But Lavine may cause my arrest! Perhaps 
I’d better keep away from where he is likely to 
be.” 

“ Nonsense! We’ll fix Lavine.” 

A little later the three were on their way to 
Denton, which they reached safely that night, hav- 
ing managed to catch an express train. 

To say that Mr. Ranger and the three aunts 
were glad to see Jack is putting it mildly, but their 
welcome, particularly that of the three elderly 
ladies, was so extravagant that I’m afraid you 
would think I was exaggerating if I described it 
exactly as it happened. Sufficient to say that they 


THE RASCALS CAUGHT 


303 


laughed and cried by turns over him. And Nat’s 
folks were just as glad to see him. 

“ Well, Dad, what about Hemp Smith and 
Company? ” asked Jack, as soon as he could get 
his breath. “ Did they get any of ’em? ” 

“ Some,” replied Mr. Ranger. “ I wired at 
once to Mr. Skidmore, on getting your telegram, 
and he and the constables rounded up some of the 
gang. They didn’t get Hemp or Lavine, but they 
expect to, as one of the men confessed as to their 
whereabouts. I think we’ll have them all soon.” 
“ What about Bony and Sam? ” 

Mr. Ranger told of the breaking up of camp, 
details of which had been given him by Budge 
Rankin. Mr. Ranger told how worried he and 
Jack’s aunts were, until they got the telegram sent 
from Portsmouth. Mr. Ranger had searched for 
his son and Nat, but unsuccessfully. 

“ Of course we were worried after that, wonder- 
ing where you were,” he said, “ as we couldn’t 
imagine what had happened, except that you were 
in the power of the rascals. 

“ We’re not done with them yet,” said Jack. 
“ Dad, I want you to help out Captain Reeger.” 
And he explained about the difficulty the comman- 
der was in. 


304 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

“ I certainly will,” declared Mr. Ranger 
heartily, and he took Captain Reeger to see Judge 
Bennett, the leading lawyer of Denton. 

Jack’s first act, after the excitement had sub- 
sided, was to telegraph Bony of the safe arrivals, 
and to ask how Sam’s father was. In response 
he got messages from both his chums, the one from 
Sam stating that Mr. Chalmers was much better. 

Two days later a message was received by 
Mr. Ranger from the police of Portsmouth. It 
stated that Hemp Smith and Jonas La vine had 
been arrested there, and were being brought to 
Denton, where the other members of the gang 
were locked up. 

Several charges were made against the rascals. 
The principal one was the making of counterfeit 
stock certificates and railroad bonds, and another 
was that of kidnapping Jack and Nat. In both of 
these the boys, as well as Captain Reeger, were wit- 
nesses. When Lavine heard that the former com- 
mander of the Polly Ann was to give evidence 
against him, he exclaimed: 

“ I’ll soon make him sing a different tune. 
I’ll have him in here with me when I tell 
my story.” 

“ No, you’ll not,” announced Judge Bennett 
calmly, “ for your poor tool, Shinebloom, con- 


THE RASCALS CAUGHT 


305 


fcssed that he and you committed the crime that 
was laid at the captain’s door. You’d better not 
say anything about that, unless you want another 
charge made against you.” 

And Lavine was wise enough to keep silent. 
The trial was soon over and the entire crowd were 
sent to prison for long terms, with the exception of 
Hemp Smith, who turned state’s evidence, and got 
off with a lighter sentence. Nick also received a 
short term. 

As for the members of the crew of the Polly 
Antiy nearly all of them, including Jupe the colored 
cook, were saved, for the boat got safely ashore. 
None of them were prosecuted, as it appeared they 
were only innocent agents of Lavine. No charge 
was made against Captain Recger, for his part in 
the kidnapping, and he and the boys became firm 
friends, for the captain was a different man when 
he found he was free from Lavine’s persecution. 

The incident of the exploding motor boat, and 
the meeting of Jerry, Lavine and the red-haired 
man in the meadow was explained at the trial. 
Lavine had printed some bogus bonds, and he and 
Jerry, who weakly consented to help Lavine, were 
taking them to Hemp Smith, who, disguised in 
a red wig, was to dispose of them to Lavine’s 
agents in New York. The explosion was an acd- 


3o6 jack RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

dent, and made no difference in Lavine’s plans, 
though it greatly puzzled the boys. 

What became of Jerry Chowden Jack did not 
learn for some time, but he afterward heard that 
the bully went out west for a long stay, as he 
feared arrest should he remain near Denton. He 
had gone in with Lavine, because of his hatred of 
Jack, and had been a willing tool. 

“ Well,” remarked Jack, when the excitement 
attendant upon the trials and convictions of the 
rascals was over, “ what shall we do now? ” 

“Don’t you want to take a rest?” asked his 
father. “ I think you had a pretty strenuous 
time.” 

“ Why, that was like a vacation — most of it,” 
replied Jack. “ Our camping outing was spoiled, 
but as there is more than a month before school 
opens, I think we’ll try it again. Sam and Bony 
will be willing, I know. And so will Nat.” 

So they went camping, in the same place again, 
taking Budge along with them, and this time no 
unusual adventures occurred. They had a glori- 
ous outing, and no end of fun. 

“ Let’s go off and see if we can find that cave 
again,” proposed Jack, one warm August after- 
noon. 


THE RASCALS CAUGHT 


307 


“ Not for mine,” replied Nat. “ It’s too full 
of painful memories.” 

“ Well, wasn’t it an adventure worth having? ” 
asked Jack. 

“Yes, it was fun — part of it — but I don’t 
know that I want any more.” 

But the adventures of Jack and his chums were 
not yet at an end, as will be seen by those who care 
to hear about him in the next volume of this series, 
to be called, “ Jack Ranger’s Gun Club; Or, From 
Schoolroom to Camp and Trail.” 

“ Juseeanywhales ? ” asked Budge, breaking 
the sudden silence that had settled down over the 
camp, when Nat had refused to go explore the 
cave. 

“ Whales? No,” replied Jack. “ But if you’ll 
hand me my fishing pole. Budge, and be careful 
not to get that gum you’re chewing stuck all over 
it, I’ll go and try to catch a few porgies for sup- 
per. They’re better eating than whales.” 

“ Awright,” answered Budge calmly, handing 
over the pole, and then he went to sleep, while Jack 
went fishing. 

And here, for the present, we will take leave of 
Jack Ranger and his chums. 


THE END 






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By EDMOND ABOUT 

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as a dramatic story is not enough, it is a pro- 
found study of character and life. 



CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers 


New York 


THE COLLEGE SPORTS SERBES 

By LESTER CHADWICK 
12mo, Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in Colors 

Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid 

Mr. Chadwick has played on the diamond 
and on the gridiron himself. 

1. THE RIVAL PITCHERS 

A Story of College Baseball 

Tom Parsons, a “hayseed,” makes good on 
the scrub team o£ Randall College. 


2. A QUARTERBACK’S PLUCK 

A Story of College Football 

A football story, told in Mr. Chadwick’s best style, that is bound 
to grip the reader from the start. 

3. BATTING TO WIN 

A Story of College Baseball 

Tom Parsons and his friends Phil and Sid are the leading players 
on Randall College team. There is a great game. 

4. THE WINNING TOUCHDOWN 

A Story of College Football 

After having to reorganize their team at the last moment, Randall 
makes a touchdown that won a big game. 

5. FOR THE HONOR OF RANDALL 

A Story of College Athletics 

The winning of the hurdle race and long-distance run is ex* 
tremdy exciting. 

. 6. THE EIGHT-OARED VICTORS 

A Story of College Water Sports 

Tom, Phil and Sid prove as good at aquatic sports as they are 
an track, gridiron and diamond. 

Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue 



fORWIBOW* 


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CUPPLES LEON COMPANY. Publishers 


New Yor^ 


THE BOY RANCHERS SERIES 


By WILLARD F. BAKER 

il2mo. Cloth, Illustrated. Jacket in ftdl colors 


Price per volume, 6S cents, postpaid 

Stories of the great west, with cattle ranches as 
a setting, related in such a style as to captivate 
the hearts of all boys. 

1. THE BOY RANCHERS 

or Solving the Mystery at Diamond X 

Two eastern boys visit their cousin. They 
become involved in an exciting mystery. 

2. THE BOY RANCHERS IN CAMP 

or The Water Fight at Diamond X 
Returning for a visit, the two eastern lads learn, 'with delight, that 
they are to become boy ranchers. 

3. THE BOY RANCHERS ON THE TRAIL 

or The Diamond X After Cattle Rustlers 
Our boy heroes take the trail after Del Pinzo and his outlaws. 

4. THE BOY RANCHERS AMONG'THE INDIANS 

or Trailing the Yaquis 

[Rosemary and Floyd are captured by the Yaqui Indians. 

5. THE BOY RANCHERS AT SPUR CREEK 

or Fighting the Sheep Herders 
Dangerous struggle against desperadoes for land rights. 

6. THE BOY RANCHERS IN THE DESERT 

or Diamond X and the Lost Mine 
One night a strange old miner almost dead from hunger and hard- 
ship arrived at the bunk house. The boys cared for him and he told 
them of the lost desert mine. 

7. THE BOY RANCHERS ON ROARING RIVER 

or Diamond X and the Chinese Smugglers 
The boy ranchers help capture Delton's gang who were engaged in 
smuggling Chinese across the border. 

8. THE BOY RANCHERS IN DEATH VALLEY. 

or Diamond X and the Poison Mystery^ 

The boy ranchers track mysterious Death into his cave. 

Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue 



CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers 


New York 


The Fred Fenton 
Athletic Series 

By ALLEN CHAPMAN 

Author of •The Tom Fairfield Series,” “The Boys of Pluck Series” and 
“The Darewell Chums Series.” 

12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid. 

A line of tales embracing school athletics. Fred is a true 
type of the American schoolboy of to>day. 


Fred Fenton the Pitcher 

•r The Rivals of Riverport School 

When Fred came to Riverport none oj 
the school lads knew him, but he speedily 
proved his worth in the baseball box. A 
true picture of school baseball. 

Fred Fenton in the Line 

or The Football Boys of Riverport School 

When Fall came in the thoughts of tha 
boys turned to football. Fred went in the line, and again 
proved his worth, making a run that helped to win a great 
game. 



Fred Fenton on the Crew 

or The Young Oarsmen of Riverport School 

In this volume the scene is shifted to the river, and Fred 
and his chums show how they can handle the oars. There are 
many other adventures, all dear to the hearts of boys. 

Fred Fenton on the Track 

or The Athletes of Riverport School 

Track athletics form a subject of vast interest to many 
Doys, and here is a tale telling of great running races, high 
jumping, and the like. Fred again proves himself a hero in 
the best sense of that term. 

Fred Fenton: Marathon Runner 

o*" The Great Race at Riverport School 

Fred is taking a post-graduate course at the school when 
the subject of Marathon running came up. A race is arranged, 
and Fred shows both his friends and his enemies what he can 
do. An athletic story of special merit. 


CUPPLE8 & LEON CO., Publishers, 


NEW YORK 



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